Pokemon: Across The Skies
by Pikapixie The Demigod
Summary: Andrea (Andy) Klee, age 15, is setting out on her pokemon journey. with her unusual abilities and appearance, this is sure to be an interesting adventure! but this is far from a fun, peaceful trip. when new evil arises, will Andy be up to the challenge?
1. The Beginning Of The End

**hello to all!well, this is my new story! I love pokemon...**

**now, as i want to make this original, i am making the 3 starter pokemon, and a legendary, but for everything else, i am too lazy to make all new pokemon, as it is hard enough to make 3 as it is( by the way, im a little stuck on the water and fire types, so if anyone has any ideas, post it in the review..iv already got the grass type figured out) johneek will have all the pokemon from the other regions. this includes unova, sinnoh, johto, and kanto regions.**

**Oh, latias and latios will be in this story. the backstory/lifestyle of them will be different, but its my story.**

**anyways, on to the main character:**

**andrea (andy) klee, age 15. so there is no confusion: yes, she can talk to pokemon, she has been able to since birth. she has silvery hair down almost to her knees, and gold, wolf like eyes. she has one more mystery power that will remain hidden until i write it in.**

**ash ketchum, age 22, has completed all leagues(including johneek)**

**iris, age 20, traveled with ash on his johneek journey, but has also become a dragon master.**

**anyway!**

**disclaimer: I own nothing..exept the plot, most of the characters, and some of the pokemon!**

**on to the story!**

_epilogue: the beginning of the end._

_Ash's pov_

Iris checked the map again. "Ash, are you sure we're going the right way? we should've gotton to Twistvine Town like an hour ago." I groaned. we were probably lost."I don't even know anymore, Iris! wait.. haven't we seen this oran berry tree before?" yeah, definitely lost.

A high giggle sounded somewhere behind me. I turned, and was met with the most startling pair of gold eyes _ever._ "Waah!" I fell and scuttled away. she was right behind me! she giggled again. how old was she? she was a slight little thing.. she couldn't have been more than seven, tops. along with her unsettling yellow eyes, she had shoulder length silver hair, like the color of liquid mercury. the little girl had on a camo tee shirt and baggy black pants. no wonder I hadn't seen her, she was blending right into the trees! "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice. you've been walking in circles for almost two hours now. lots of noise. easy to follow." Iris shifted nervously. "How didn't I know you were there?" The little girl pointed up with her pointer finger. "in the trees. I was getting some sitrus berries when you guys showed up."

"Umm, great stealth and all, but who are you?" I asked.

"me? oh, my names Andrea. but it makes me sound like a girl, so everyone just calls me Andy. I live a few miles up in Twistvine town."

Iris blinked. "your eyes.. is that their natural color? and your hair?" Andy fingered her hair. "Yeah, everyone asks that. yup, they are! my hair is my favorite color. but I like yours too. it's purple!" she looked closer at Iris, then at me. "wait a minute..." she muttered. "purple.. companion of.. that hat he has on.." her eyes lit up. "Ooh! your Ash ketchum, aren't you? your my hero! you've beaten, like, everybody! you've beaten five leagues! Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Unova, and Johneek!" she squealed. I laughed and looked at Iris. "Looks like im popular!" I stood up.

Iris pushed my shoulder and shook her head good-naturedley. "Jeez, you're such a little kid." I laughed. "Whatever. so," I said, turning my attention to Andy, "How old are you?"

"Six."

"so," I mused, "not quite a trainer yet.. but if Im you're hero, that must mean you want to be a trainer and challenge gyms, right?"

"Heck yes! Imma grow up, get a Pokémon, Get super strong, and be the best trainer ever, and beat everybody!"

my mouth curled upward. "Does that include me?" she nodded fast. "speshly you! im gonna be the champion someday!" Pikachu jumped off of my shoulder and waved a tiny paw at Andy. "pika chu kapi." man, I wish I knew what he was saying sometimes! she grinned and knelt down. "I know who you are, Pikachu. you're pretty popular around here yourself, you know."

"ka chu chu pika, chu pikacu?" she rubbed under his chin. "Most def'nitley! you're the best for now, but watch out for me!"

_wait. was she...?_

iris interrupted my train of thought. "yeah, this is nice and all, but we have to _go. _we're already late." I moaned and slapped my forehead. "aw, man! I promised proffeser Dahra that I would be on time this time! hey, Andy, can you show us how to get to twistvine?"

"yup. lemme see youre map." iris handed it over.

"see," she pointed, "this is where you are." she traced a circle with her finger. this is what you've been doing." she pointed to a circular nature walk. then she tapped on a small line with her fingernail. "And this is where you need to go. it'll take you back to the main road, and you can just go straight up the road."

I scratched my head. "oh, I see. how did we miss that path?" Iris shrugged. "oh, that's easy," andy said. "the path's real overgrown, so it's easy to miss if you're not looking for it." she gestured down the path we were headed with her arm. "just go up there a ways, and turn right at the big orange plant. walk straight through the plants, and the path's right there."

"Oh. thanks." she beamed. "oh, you're very welcome!" then she turned and disappeared into the underbrush. "Huh. that was interesting."

we walked a bit farther down the path, and saw a vine hanging from a tree, covered in orange blossoms. we looked and saw that if we pushed a bunch of leaves away in a certain spot, there was a small path.

we walked silently for a few minutes.

_hmm... I could've sworn that girl had been-_

"you know," iris started, snapping me out of my reverie. "She reminds me a lot of how you used to be. bent on being the best, although she has a much better sense of direction. reminds me of the good old days, you know? getting lost, running around all over the place, excited over every battle."

She did remind me of when we were younger. still..it made me think. traveling was fun, sure, but.. it wasn't just the same anymore. I'm not as young as I used to be.

"yeah..." I looked sideways at her.

"you know, iris, I've been thinking. Maybe.. maybe it's time for me to retire."

she looked at me in alarm and opened her mouth too protest. "No, no," I said before she could. "Not from battling. just.. just traveling. maybe stay here, be champion, battle challengers and stuff." she looked away. she didn't say anything.

Neither did I.

* * *

**2 hours later..**

we stepped out of professor Dahra's lab a while later. I put my hands behind my head. "man, that stuff is so _boring!_ types, abilities, items, yadda, yadda. why cant you just battle?" Iris fell in step beside me. "come on, ash," she sighed, "you know it helps for strategy."

"strategy, shmategy," I huffed. "fight with your instincts."

"moving on.." she prodded.

"yeah, yeah." I looked around. "hey, lets stay at the Pokémon center tonight, and I can get us some jets first thing tomorrow to take you to the dragon village in unova, and I can head off to the Pokémon league."

"good idea. I'm so beat."

the bell jingled when we open the door to the Pokémon center. I jogged up to the front desk, where a nurse joy waited._ jeez, they're nice and all, but just how many of them are there?!_

"hey, nurse joy! uh, room for two more?" iris had wandered off somewhere. probably out back to train with Haxorus. "Hello, Ash!" joy exclaimed. "its been quite a while. what brings you to Twistvine town?" I shrugged. "history lesson with professor Dahra. just passing through."

"Okay, well, we currently have two rooms left. would you like those?"

"yeah, please."

"okay, youre all set up. why don't you stay in the lobby for a while while we get you're rooms ready?"

"sure."

I plopped down on a couch. tomorrow I was going to the Johneek league to accept my champion status, and Iris was going back to her hometown, the dragon village, to help with the dragons, and continue being a dragon master.

my stomach growled.

Figures.

All these years, and I still couldn't go two hours without eating!

I sighed and rummaged through my pack. "come on.." I muttered. "I know I packed one of cilan's egg salad sandwiches in here somewhere."

"um, hate to break it to you, but you ate that in the forest."

I started and looked up. it was Andy. man, she was quiet! she was munching on an oreo, her face covered in black crumbs. he held out the bag. "want some?"

I smiled mareepishly and took a handful, cramming it into my mouth. "so, rumor has it you're retiring from journeys. is that true?"

"yeah," I managed with a mouthful of cookies. I swallowed, licking my fingers. "Im gonna stick around and be champion for awhile." she grinned. "so cool! all the places you could have gone, and now Johneek gets to say our champion is the legendary ash ketchum!" I blinked. "legendary? im not that popular." she looked at me strangely. "Guy, you've saved the world, like, a billion times!" oh. that.

"Anyways, im looking forward to facing you in the league. you look tough, for sure." I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. I stood. "well, im gonna hit the sack. wandering around in the woods for hours can really take a lot out of a guy, you know?"

* * *

**The next day...**

The private jet waited in front of me. Iris had already left on a previous plane for unova. I shouldered my pack. I looked at Pikachu. "well.. we've had a good run, huh, buddy?" his ears drooped. "pika.." I smiled sadly and patted his head. I took one last look around. no more traveling... boy, would i miss it. no more getting lost, no more gym leaders, no more sleeping under the stars with my traveling buddies..

Maybe I should call up May...

"Hey! mister ash!" I turned. Andy was running up the grass towards me, huffing and puffing. "whew! I thought I'd missed you! I made you this!" in her hand, she held a silver chain necklace with gym badges and cases. wait.. that scratch on the kanto case looked familiar. I slapped my back jean pocket. Just as I'd suspected. those were mine! I sweatdropped. "uh.. Andy, are those mine?" she blushed. "uh.. well.. Imayhavetakenthemwhenyouwerentlooking.. but I made you this!"

_So, a pickpocket too, huh?_

I took it from her carefully, checking to make sure all my badges were there. she had punched holes in the badges and case hinges, and strung them with the appropriate case. Johto case, Johto badges, kanto case, kanto badges, then sinnoh, then unova, then johneek.

My eyes got a little blurry. all these badges..

All my friends

All my battles

All my hardships

All my acheivements

Everything..

Win or lose, my life had pretty much been one, big, super fun adventure.

I pulled it over my head, the metal clinking together, and tucked it into my shirt. i knelt down in front of her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"..Thank you..."

She smiled. "I thought, if you were gonna stop traveling, you would wanna have something to remember everything by, right?"

_you're pretty smart for your age.._

She would be a great trainer.

I reached up and grasped the rim of my hat, pulling it off, studying it quietly. I've had it for forever, as a symbol of my journey. I'd never gone a day without it. it had a lot of memories, that was for sure...

But I didn't need it anymore.

Andy watched me curiously, her honey eyes bright. she had spunk. she was happy, energetic, and had a go-to attitude.

Maybe she would be a Pokemon master someday.

I pushed the cap down firmly onto her head. it was a little big, and slid over her eyes. she pushed it up with one hand, eyes wide. "you keep it. get strong on your very own journey, And I wont let anyone else beat me and stay champion, until you make it to the league and challenge me. okay?"

I reached out an arm, and her smaller hand took mine. "okay," she said, with a new determination on her face. "Ill make it all the way to the Johneek league, and battle you, and beat you!" I ruffled her hair. "that's the spirit!"

I stood, making my way over to the plane, but I stopped in the doorway. I turned and waved. She waved back. "See you in the Johneek league, Andy! ill be waiting!" the door slid shut, and the plane taxied for a minute before taking off. Andy touched the hat, fingering the worn rim.

"I will, mister ash," she whispered. then, screaming,

"Ill be the best Pokémon trainer in the whole wide world!"

A new trainer.

A new journey.

A new hero.

And So It Begins.

**well? too much? not enough? just so you know, some of the misspellings in there were on purpose, cause andy is six and cant talk perfect grammar. (then again, neither can I) anyways, hope you liked it! if you did, let me know. if you didn't, _let me know! _Jeez, that took 3 hours to type! plus random distractions like take out the recycling or set up for lunch. that looked _so_ much longer when I wrote six pages! *sigh* that was my longest chapter I ever wrote! 2,164 characters!**

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	2. Decision

**hiii sorry its taken me so long! I got two teeth pulled today. 20 or so numbing shots. ow. **

**why is nobody reviewing?**

**come oooon if you don't like it tell me how to fix it! I almost discontinued it cause now it seems really stupid.. but im gonna finish it anyways. to fix a few things I said in the preprolouge, her hair is down to almost her knees. Also, I recently learned that ash gets new hats a lot. lets just pretend he had one for all his journeys, okay?**

**pokemon speech = bold**

**I DONT OWN POKEMON.**

**on wiss ze story!**

Today was the day.

15 years old, And I was finally going to start my adventure!

I glanced at the mirror. I wore a camo shirt with sleeves that stopped just after the elbow, and dark black cargo shorts. My wardrobe hadn't changed much since I was younger, varying only in design and size. I found it much easier to follow and watch when people couldn't see me. Camo and black, always.

Somehow, It looked great with my gold, wolfish eyes and silver hair. I plopped down on my bed and rummaged through my pack. Toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, change of clothes, black leather jacket(It was too warm to wear it now), bathing suit, dried Oran berries, pajamas, last minute medical supplies.. ugh. I had packed and repacked, but I could swear I'd forgotten something..

I felt a nudge at my shoulder.

"Huh?"

**Forget something? I swear, you'd lose you're head if it wasn't attached!**

Did I mention I could talk to pokemon? I've always been able to, but nobody knows why. Some people call me a freak, say my silver hair and yellow eyes are unnatural, that I was bad luck. Personally, I thought talking to pokemon was awesome. I mean, they have so much to say. plus, it dosent get much cooler then gold eyes and silver hair.

The purrloin behind me held my pocketknife in her mouth(closed, of course.) Black with a painted white dragon twisting around the handle, It was one of my prized possessions, and I had tons of little wooden objects scattered around my room and on the bookshelves. whittling had always been fun for me, and it helped me to earn a few bucks here and there.

I patted her head. "Thanks, sapphire. I don't know what I'd do without you."

**Not whittling, that's for sure,** she grumbled, but she smiled anyways. **Andy, good luck on you're journey. I wish I could go with you, but my traveling days are over. Just make sure to visit sometimes, okay?** I grinned.

"Don't worry, I will."

I grabbed my bag and stood, snatching my hat off the dresser. Hadn't gone a day without it. I studied it for a moment.

_He pushed the cap down firmly onto my head. it was a little big, and it slid over my eyes, but I didn't care. I pushed it up with one hand, eyes wide._

_"you keep it." He said softly. "get strong on your very own journey, And I wont let anyone else beat me and stay champion, until you make it to the league and challenge me. okay?"_

_He reached out an arm, and my smaller hand took his._

_"Okay."_

Yes. I'd get strong, alright. I'll blow him away.

I put it on and looked in the mirror one last time. My reflection stared back, confident and assured.

**You'd better get going,** Sapphire interrupted. **Or you'll be late. Don't want to keep professer Dahra waiting.**

"Right."

Sapphire jumped off the bed, and I ran out the door and down the steps. sapphire preferred to walk. "Ah!" I stumbled at the bottom of the stairs and skidded a bit before regaining my balance. My mom, daisy Klee, and my dad, Soital Klee, were waiting in the living room. I grinned at them. "Well, Its finally time!" my mom sniffled a bit. "Oh! don't cry, mom!"

she smiled a little. "Oh, I know. but, Andy, you _are_ leaving.."

I thumbed my nose. "Yup! And don't you worry about me for one second! I'm gonna take down everyone and catch every pokemon there is." She laughed.

"Yes, honey, we know. It's all you've been talking about for the past two weeks." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." I smiled mareepishly. "I'm just excited, That's all."

My dad stepped forward. He held a small, rectangular black box in his hand. "Sweetheart, this is for you." mom said. dad had always been mute. My eyes widened a bit. "Is that..?"

He nodded. "Yes, it is." He signed with his free hand. He opened it up. inside was a pokeball **(****an: like the size it is when you recall it so it fits in youre bag. its an actual pokeball) **on a thin silver chain. "Yes!" I cried, and rushed to pull it out of the box.

It had been in my family for a _long_ time. It was my greatgreatgreatsomething grandpa's starter ball. It was a tradition in the family to give it to the firstborn(I had a younger brother, Ryan, but he was off in the woods somewhere.) It was passed down from Klee to Klee.

"Uhh... help?" I couldn't get the clasp. Mom chuckled and stepped behind me, pushing aside my hair and fastening the clasp. "Thanks!" I twirled, giggling, and my hair fanned out behind me. "Oh!" I saw a clock.

"Oh, Im late!" I spun and hugged first my mom, then my dad. "Bye, mum! bye, dad!" I raced out the door and ran through Twistvine town to the lab. My dad waved and my mom called out from the door. "Do you're best, Andy!"

I waved. "Yeah, the very best!"

* * *

**about an hour later...**

"Hmm..."

water, grass, or fire? definitely not fire, way too hot. I turned away from the little ant- looking thing. water, or grass? There was a little crystal blue bear, and a small little fox with white, green tinged fur. it had two thin tails with light blue leaves in the tips. **(Imagine evee. you know manaphy, right? well, take the little antennae/tails things on the top of its head and make it the tails of the evee. then, imagine the color you get when you shine a light through a leaf onto a white surface.) **

It had a dark green vine and leaf design twisting around its body and legs. it looked at me with pale, ice-blue eyes. I looked at him. I tilted my head. it mimicked me.

"chit!" **Hi, trainer!** I giggled. "Hi, Vinchit."

"Chin, chit vin vin?" **Are you going to take me? I wanna go with you!**

I patted his head. "You know what, Vinchet? I think I will." I looked at professer Dahra. She was watching me with a mild interest. Being a scientist, she was curious as to how I was able to communicate with pokemon. "Hey, professer Dahra?"

"Yes, Andy?"

"I think Im gonna take this Vinchet."

"Great! Here's his pokeball." she reached into her pocket and pulled one out.

"No, thank you. can I just use this one?" I indicated towards my chain.

"Sure. but, wont that be a little hard to remove from the chain?" I smiled.

"Oh, no," I started. "He'll be walking out of his pokeball with me. I'll only use this when its absolutely necessary."

"Well, off you go, then. good luck."

"Come on, Vinchit! Lets go!" She hopped off the counter and onto my shoulder. "Chit chit vin!" **Lets go, trainer!**

"Yeah, vinchet!" I stepped out the door. "By the by, my name's Andy."

"chit!" **Andy. Got it!**

I fist pumped the air. "YES! LETS DO THIS!"


	3. Black

**posting... **

**bold = pokemon talking**

**I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.**

"Well, first step, Vinchit. you ready?" Vinchit paced restlessly from one shoulder to the other, squealing excitedly.

"Chit chit chit chit _vin vin_ chit!" **Come on come on come on come on_ lets go, _Andy! **I chuckled.

"Jeez, vin, you sure are excited. Okay!" I pointed to the sky. "Lets g-OOF!" I sprawled. something had slammed into me.

_What the heck?_ I shot up and brushed off my clothes. A guy dressed in black- like, black jeans, black shirt, black jacket, black hair- was walking up the path ahead of me.

"Hey!" He ignored me. I ran towards him. "Hey!" Nothing. I growled.

"_Hey, you!" _No response. Okay, this guy was seriously ticking me off.

I sped up, and at the last possible second leaped onto the guy's back with a shout, knocking him flat onto the ground. We both hit the dirt, him squawking In surprise.

"Ha! now you have to listen to me!" I cried triumphantly.

he pushed me off him and rolled over. He sat up, groaning and rubbed his head, then glared at me. "Arceus, what do you do? take down pokemon?"

"Well..."

"What in the world is wrong with you, anyways, tackling me like that?" my anger returned.

"What is wrong with- What in the world is wrong with _you?_ You bumped me down, and completely blew me off!"

He blinked, then snickered. "I bumped you down? Boy, you can sure grammer, huh?"

I fumed. "Shut up." He got up, brushed himself off, and reached out a hand to help me. I took it, standing. somehow, vinchit had managed to cling onto my shoulder. "Chit.." **Ugh..**

"Whoops, sorry, Vinchet." I looked to the black clad stranger. Messy black hair hung down to his shoulders, bangs covering his dark eyes a little. He was looking at me oddly, his head tilted to the side. I glared.

"What!" I snapped. He backed up, waving his hands defensivley.

"Nothing, nothing." I huffed, crossing my arms. The corner of his mouth tugged up into a small half smile.

"Whatever." I stomped away. the nerve of the guy!

* * *

**_Later that night.._**

"Hahhh..." I sighed comfortably, settling down on a tree branch. I hung one foot comfotably over the edge of the limb. I reached up an arm and put my bag on a branch above my head, after removing my jacket and wrapping myself up in it.

Vinchet snuggled up into the inside flap of my zip up. I had walked for hours without seeing a single person after running into Black. Aside from the weird feeling of being watched, all was peaceful.

Eventually, I had come across a stream and caught some fish (After much struggling and splashing) and dried off by the fire, eventually snuffing it out and scaling the nearest Sitrus berry tree to rest for the night. I had closed my eyes, just drifting to sleep, when..

_Crack._

I was immedietly alert. small branch, probably stepped on.

_Crr-ack._ A muffled curse.

I put Vinchet on my shoulder and quietly climbed down the side of the tree opposite of whomever was spying on me. I crept slowly toward the figure, who was trying(unsuccessfuly) to be quiet, looking at the remains of my fire pit.

Closer.. Closer.. "Hyaaa!" I leaped on him from behind, sending him sprawling.

"What in the-" My eyes widened. I knew that voice.

"Hey, Its you!" I said dumbly. Black sat up and rubbed his head after shoving me off him.

_Wow, talk about deja-vu.. _

"Yeesh, princess! scared the hell outta me.." I pierced him with a glare.

"I am _not_ a princess!"

"Warrior princess, more like."

"Shut up! were you following me?" I demanded.

"Uhh.."

"Stalker."

"No, no!" He shook his head. "I, uhh.. I.. um.."

"Go on."

"I just wanted to apologize.. you know, for bumping you down earlier." He gave a weak smile. Then he frowned. "Wait.. how did you know I was here? and where did you go? one second you were eating fish, and the next you were gone."

I grinned.

"Okay, first, you were really loud. you obviously have no experience _stepping over sticks. _I could hear you a mile away."

"Haha.. yeah.."

"And as for youre second question, I was up there." I pointed at my tree.

"You.. you sleep in a tree?" He spluttered. I glared.

"You gotta problem with that?"

"No! No, its perfectly normal to sleep.. in.. a.. tree.."

"Good. now if you don't mind, Im going back to sleep."

* * *

**_Early the next__ morning.._**

"Mmmm..." something smelled _really _good.

I groaned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, looking down groggily. Black? he was sitting there cooking something an a pan over a fire.

_pan?_ Meh._ He can pack what he wants to pack, I guess.._

I shrugged out of my jacket and stuffed it into my bag, pulling out my hairbrush. sticking my toothbrush in my mouth, I shouldered my pack and jumped off the branch, scooping up Vinchet on my way down. I landed on the other side of the fire, right in front of Black.

"Nyah!" he fell back. I sat by the fire, running the brush through my hair. He stared. "You.. you jumped.. out of the tree..?"

"Yeah, I tend to do that." I snickered at his flustered expression. I peered over the fire, peeking into his frying pan. Bacon! Probably tasted better then my fish.

_Yuck. _"Yum. can I have some?" I pulled out the toothbrush. He was still staring at me. "You do realize that was, like, fifteen feet?"

"Yes, Black, I do. I've been jumping out of trees long enough to know how high up I climb. Now, can I have some bacon or not?" He snapped out of it.

"Black?" My cheeks flushed. "I.. Uh.. I don't know you're name."

"..."

"Hello?"

"..."

"Oookaay." I snatched a piece of bacon out of his pan and continued brushing my hair.

"Chives.."

"Chives?" He nodded. "Cause I like to cook. thats what my friends always called me."

"Called you? Did something happen?"

"..."

"Fine, you don't wanna talk about it. My name's Andy."

"Nice to meet you."

"yeah, pleasure's mine." I stood. "Now, I'm going to go take a bath in that stream. If I hear a single branch crack while i'm in there, I will judo flip you off the nearest cliff." His cheeks flamed. He turned his head and took a particular interest In the tree next to him.

"Uhh..."

"Good."

"..."

**well, its about 12:30 in the morning, and im going to bed. zzzzz...**

**pikapixie out!**

**review!**


	4. The pokemon

**oi..Im so tired..My little brother insists on waking me up early after staying up till one writing and updating the last chapter.**

**Andy: wah, wah, wah. Lets hurry this up.**

**Me: Andy, c'mon, I tired.**

**Andy: Yeah? well Im bored. so can we please speed this up a little?**

**Me: fine, fine. I do not own pokemon. but I do own the plot, a few pokemon, chives, andy, And the next bad guys.**

**On with the story!**

andys pov

We had been walking for a while through the woods. Pidoves and pidgeys twittered high in the trees, sunlight peeking through the leafy canopy. We had been trying to get to Niche Town for awhile, and I got the feeling we were more then a little lost.

"Chives?"

"..."

I'd gotton used to that. After the initial shock had worn off that I had really jumped out of a tree and I wasnt broken In any way, He had lapsed into this almost silence, talking only when he needed to or was completley curious about something. It didnt really matter, though. I talked enough for both of us.

"I think we're lost. like, _really _lost." He nodded. My stomach growled. I sweatdropped. "Ahh-ha-ha-ha..."

He grinned. "Sorry, Andy, but you kind of ate everything." I opened my mouth to retort, But I caught the scent of water. Water meant fish. Fish meant food. I sniffed, grabbing chives' wrist and pulling him abrubtly off the path.

"Hey-what're you doing? whatcha smell, princess?"

"Stop it with the princess crap! And, I smell water."

"So?"

"Do we need more food or not?"

"Fish?" I rolled my eyes.

"No, chives, birds."

"Shut up. how do you smell water, anyways? you've been doing weird stuff like that all day."

"Dunno. I used to spend most of my time in the woods when I was younger, dissapearing for weeks on end. I guess I kinda got used to finding scents and trails to survive." He looked impressed. Vinchit jumped off my shoulder and trotted off ahead of us.

"Oh, and I've been meaning to ask you: is that you're natural hair color? And, do you wear contacts?" I laughed.

"Yeah, that's my real hair. And no, I was born with them. although everyone asks that." He tilted his head.

"So, why is your hair so long?"

"Easy. I've never cut it. Oh, look, there's the stream." A small creek with about waist high water was running along through the woods. I peered into the water. barboach and magicarp swam lazily through the water. I rubbed my hands together, then looked at chives. "Barboach or Magicarp?" He blinked.

"What?"

"Barboach or Magicarp? which one do you want?" He looked at me weirdly.

"Uh, Magicarp, I guess. but how're you gonna catch them? we don't have any rods." I cracked my knuckles and watched the fish, rolling up my sleeves.

"Who said anything about rods?" I grinned. Then I jumped into the water, grabbing a startled magicarp by the tail and throwing it up on shore.

A couple of splashes and curses later, we had four magicarps and a barboach flopping around in the grass. Chives was sitting on the shore with his feet in the water, watching me. I waved him in with my hand. "Come on, chives. you try." He shook his head fast.

"No way." I waded over, grabbing his hand. "Come on, I'll show you how." I tugged his arm, pulling him into the stream.

"Okay, so, first you have to find the fish you want." I pointed to a rather slow looking Magicarp. "But you have to remember that water distorts the actual spot the fish is in, so aim a little bit to the left of the fish. then, make sure, since they _are_ moving, that you go for the spot a couple inches in front of them. after that, just get a good grip on the thing." he looked at me skeptically. I pushed him forward. "Go ahead."

He stumbled and looked at me one last time. I mouthed, "go." He snuck up slowly behind the fish, arms poised above it.. then he lunged, grabbing the magicarp around its middle. The startled magicarp twisted and flopped, thrashing in chives' arms.

"I did it!" He shouted triumphantly. "I-"

The magicarp nailed him in the face with its tail, sending him splashing down into the water. The magicarp swam quickly away, leaving chives spluttering and dripping wet.

I covered my mouth. "ppppfffft... haha ha!" I burst out laughing. He glared at me, hair sopping wet and dangling in clumps, sticking to his face. "Oh..that was awesome! you-y-you-" I spluttered. "Haha hahaa!" I wiped my eyes and contained myself. holding out a hand, I went to help up chives.

he yanked on my arm. "Wahh!" I splashed headfirst into the water next to him. I pushed myself up with one arm, choking and coughing. "Hey!"

Chives was laughing next to me. I splashed him with water, cutting him off mid chortle. He splashed me. I squealed and tackled him. He pushed back and knocked me into the water. A full on water war insued.

* * *

**_about 30 minutes later... _**

We were both stretched out on the grass next to each other, drying out in the sun. I sighed contentedly. "Maybe we probably should have put on bathing suits before we did that." He nodded in agreement. I giggled, sitting up. "Well, Im gonna go change."

I stepped off behind a couple of bushes and tree's with my bag. I looked around to make sure nobody was there, then dropped my bag at the base of a tree. I knelt down and dug through my bag for a while, finally finding a short sleeved camo shirt and black jeans. I peeled out of my wet clothes and hung them on a nearby branch to dry out. Pulling on my shirt, I thought about my journey so far.

I had found a great starter pokemon, but besides a few ticked off bedoof, I hadn't really battled with him yet. But I _had _run into chives- literally -so that was good. I tugged on my jeans.

"luu.." **Help..**

My head jerked up._ What in the..? _

I crept towards the sound and pushed away some leaves. I gasped. A battered Riolu lay limply on the ground.

"Luu..ri.." **Please.. help..**

"Oh my Arceus! Hold on just one minute!" I raced back and grabbed my pack, pulling out my jacket, then dashed back. I wrapped the jacket around Riolu as gently as I could before picking him up and sprinting back towards the creek.

"Chives!" I shrieked. He jumped up so fast he almost fell back down, and ran towards me.

"Whats wrong? Are you okay? What happened?" He asked in a rush.

"Not me! Him! Chives, I need you to get water!" He looked down at Riolu. "Oh!"

"Water, chives, Water!"

"On it!" he raced back down to the creek. I laid down riolu on my spread out jacket.

"Ri.. lulu.." **It.. hurts..**

"I know, sweetie. just relax. everythings gonna be fine." Riolu closed his eyes. I reached into my bag and pulled out my dried oran berries. I grabbed a bowl and crusher**(its like a stick with a ball on the end. you use it to crush herbs and stuff into powder) **And ground three of them into a dark blue powder. While I was waiting for chives, I put a hand on the Riolu's forehead. Fever. Chives came running up with a pot of water. He dropped down next to me, flustered. "Do you have a cloth of some sort?" I asked.

"Oh! Uh, yeah." he pulled a roll of paper towels out of his bag. I raised an eyebrow, but didnt say anything. must be a cook thing. I ripped off a sheet, soaked it, folded it in half, then thirds, and placed it on riolu's forehead. "Chives, He has a fever. Keep this on his head, and put on a fresh one every two minutes or so. I think, from the purple tinge across his face, that I need to find some pecha berries. Do you have any pink apricots?"

"No.."

"Never mind. Ill find some. just watch him, Ill be right back." I turned to leave.

"Rio! lu ri.." **Please! dont leave..**

I knelt down next to Riolu and touched his cheek. "Ill be right back, Riolu. promise." He whined softly, but closed his eyes again anyways. "Okay, chives. I will be right back." I took off into the woods. _pecha.. pecha.. there!_ I shimmied up the tree and reached for a berry. I tucked a few into my bag and slid back down.

_Okay, pink apricorn, and probably a green one too._ "Come on," I muttered while running trough the brush. "Apricorns, apricorns.." there! I came out into a clearing, and there was a cluster of apricorn trees.

_Green, pink.._ I picked two pink ones and a green, and put them in my bag.

I turned And dashed back into the woods, startling a few pidgey out of the bushes. I ran quickly, jumping pokemon and small plants, and ducking and dodging branches. I dashed back to the spot where I had left Chives with riolu, skidding to a halt beside them.

I plunked down hurriedly, dropping the apricorns into the bowl with the oran berry powder, crushing them into a mush. I added water. letting it sit, I took a paper towel and gently cleaned out riolu's wounds and scrapes with water. grabbing yet another towel, I dipped it into the mixture and dabbed Riolu's wounds, and pulled out some bandages that I had packed at the last second, which I am very glad of now.

I rubbed some more salve onto the wounds, then wrapped the bandages around his arm, torso, leg, and the top of his head. I put ordinary band aids on some of his less serious cuts and scrapes. I fed little pieces of pecha berry into his mouth, and massaged his throat until he swallowed.

_There, thats just about all I can do. _I wiped my hands on my jeans and wrapped the jacket gently around him, putting the rest of the roll of paper towels under his head. Riolu was sleeping now. I swiped my forehead and leaned back. Chives was watching me carefully.

"What?" He shook his head. "What _can't _you do, princess?" I blushed and leaned against a tree next to him. "Well.. I cant cook."

"Well, no need to worry about that. I've got it covered."

"Yeah. by the way, I need you to boil the rest of the pecha and oran berries together into a broth, for when Riolu wakes up."

"Uh, right." He grabbed his bag and pulled a small bunsen burner out of a side pocket. my eyes widened. "Uh, isnt that a little dangerous?"

"No. the safety's on."

"Oh. right. I knew that." He took out a small black case out of the front pocket of his bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a few metal peices. a grill and four supports. He set it up over the burner, then put his pot (With the water still in it) on top. he dropped the last three oran berries and the pecha berry into the water and flicked on the burner.

He leaned back onto the tree. "So.. where did you learn to heal?"

"Oh, My grandmother taught me. that way, if you dont have potions and aren't anywere near a pokemon center, you can still treat you're pokemon. of course, it always helps that I can ask the pokemon what the problem is."

"Wait. you can _what?"_ Vinchet trotted over and jumped into my lap.

"Didnt you notice? I can talk to pokemon."

"But.. but.."

"You really didnt see me talking to Vinchit?"

"y-yeah.." He spluttered. "But I thought it was just you talking to them the way my brother used to talk to them. you know, not actually _understanding_ them."

I perked up at this bit of inside info. "Brother? you have a brother?" He stiffened.

"Had. had a brother."

I blushed. "Oh, Im so sorry! Did he pass away?"

"No.. He's alive."

"But you just said-"

"Drop it, Andy."

"Riolu! Ri lu ri ri!" **Where am I? What happened? Where are you, lady?**

"Oh, Im right here." I crawled over to Riolu. "You're awake. thats good. How are you feeling?"

"Rii.. lu riri.. iolu riolu!" **fine. A little hot.. wait! Where is he?** He sounded afraid.

"Who? I didn't see anyone." I dipped another paper towel into the water and replaced the now hot towel.

"Luu! ri lu iolu ri ri!" **Him! the trainer who hurt me!** I startled. _The trainer? A person did this?_

"Oh, dear. you poor thing!"

"What? what happened?" Chives questioned.

"This pokemon's _trainer _did this to him!"

"_What? _I thought maybe a pokemon, but not a person! who would do something like that?"

"I dont know!" I took a deep breath. "But whoever it was isn't important now. What matters is that Riolu gets better. how's that broth?"

"Done." he switched off the burner and handed me the pot. I took a spoon and held it to riolu's mouth.

"Here, sweetie. this will help." Riolu sipped at it weakly. a few spoonfuls later, he fell back asleep. I changed the salve and bandages, put on a new towel, and re-wrapped the jacket around Riolu. I looked up. It was dark now, and Riolu probably wasn't going to wake up until tomorrow morning. Chives was nodding off.

"Hey, you can sleep now. Im gonna go, you know, climb a tree. Vinchit, stay with Riolu tonight." Vinchit nodded and curled up next to Riolu.

I scaled the tree chives was leaning on, crashing on a branch.

* * *

_**the next morning..**_

Chives' pov

"So, Riolu, how are feeling today?"

"Ri! Riolu!" Hopefully that meant he was fine. he had been up and at em' all morning, jumping around and playing. Andy had definetly done a good job._ Andy.._ man, that girl could do just about anything.

It was definitely _not_ the everyday occurence to travel with a golden eyed, silver haired girl that swung from vines and could jump off twenty foot ledges and be perfectly fine, then ask pokemon if they knew the way to the nearest stream, if she hadnt already scented it.

And whatever she had done to Riolu had certainly done the trick. She hadn't woken up yet, and was still perched high above the ground._ In a tree._

I was cooking one of the Magicarp she had caught yesterday, and dried the rest of it, putting it in my bag. Normally that much food would last about two weeks or so, but from what I'd seen in the past week, it'd be gone in three days.

I fed Vinchet and Riolu, ate myself, then left the rest on the pan for when Andy woke up. M_ight as well change while im waiting.._ Andy only wore camo and black, I'd noticed. But I couldnt really say anything. All my outfits were exactly the same. Plain black shirt, black jeans, black shoes, black jacket.

Kinda made sense that she called me Black before she knew my name.

I made my way back to the fire pit. Vinchet and Riolu were playing some version of tag. I looked up to Andy's branch. I saw..

A branch? where was-

"You know, Chives, thif if reawy goob." Oh. there she is. I turned around. she was stuffing as much of the fish into her mouth as physically possible. How did she do that?

"Andy, how are you so quiet?" She swallowed.

"Oh, I used to sneak around and follow people when I was younger."

_Oh._ okay, then.

She finished and rinsed the pan in the stream. When she came back, Riolu finally noticed she was there.

"Ri! riolu!" she beamed.

"Hey, riolu! You look much better today."

"Ri lu lu!"

"I bet. you were way out of it last night."

I wasnt following them at all.

she looked at me. "Hey, Chives, ready to go? When I woke up, you were gone, so I climbed up a little higher, and I think I saw Niche town just a little farther that way." She pointed.

"Sure." we packed all of our stuff, then headed off. Vinchet hitched a ride on Andy's shoulder, and Andy held Riolu In her arms. after walking in silence for a while, Andy finally broke the silence.

"So, the stuff we have in our backpacks, huh?"

"What?"

"Last night. we had the weirdest things in our bags. i had my medicine crusher and bowl, and bandages, you had pots, pans, paper towels, and a bunsen burner. Not you're average travel pack, wouldnt you say?"

I nodded. after about fifteen minutes of walking, we finally broke out of the woods and into Niche town.

"Its about time!" Andy exclaimed. she darted off towards the trainer school I had told her about on the way so that she could finally battle with Vinchit.

I wandered around town a little bit, looking at merchandise in the market, things like that. Normal things. Nothing suspicious. But then I walked towards the edge of town, and I heard angry yells and a little girls wail.

I darted towards the school. when I finally got there and burst through the door, Andy was standing in front of a crying child, hands on her hips, in the center of the room. A man in a black and purple uniform with a big 'V' on the front was holding a squirming patrat, trying to stuff it in a bag.

He looked up and saw me. I paled.

"You!" I exclaimed.

**well, thats that. cliffie! **

**REVIEW!**

**Pikapixie, out!**


	5. My first pokemon battle

**hello, all! me again. Ive been having ideas and ideas so I decided to post again.**

**HEY: big shout out to calius for following this story! and dim beauty for faveriting it, but shes my friend danielle so...**

**I STILL HAVE NO REVIEWS! *tear* please review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.**

**bold = pokemon talk **underline = pokedex talk.

**on with the story!**

_Andy pov_

"Yes! pokemon school, here I come!" I fist pumped the air and dashed away from Chives.

"Vinchit! Vinvin chit?" **W****oah! will we finally get to battle? **Vinchit was bouncing on my shoulder, gripping my shirt with his paws.

"Heck yes we will! oh, wait!" I skidded to a halt and pulled out my pokedex. "What moves do you have, anyways? I know tackle, but.."

I ran the scanner over Vinchit. Vinchet. The leaf fox pokemon. When angered, Vinchit will often involutairly use psychic type moves with the leaves on the end of it's tails.

I looked at vinchit. "Oh. cool! you can learn psychic type moves?"

"Chit!" **probably! **I moved the scanner over him again. Moves: tackle, bullet seed, vine whip.

"Great! We can work with that." Vinchet mewled in agreement. "Lets go!"

I bolted in the direction of the school. It was a large blue building with giant pikachu and pichu playing painted on the front. I pushed open the door. "Wow.." there were a _lot_ of trainers. my age, younger than me. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a blond boy about my age.

"Hi!" He chirped. "Wanna battle?" I beamed.

"Do I ever! I'm Andy, and this is Vinchit."

"Hi. I'm Trent, and I battle with Icelet." **(the water type starter)**

"Neat! okay, lets battle!"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, you have to go outside to the battle fields to have a pokemon battle." I sweatdropped.

"Oh... I knew that."

* * *

_**A few minutes later..**_

"Okay, you ready?"

"Yup! Lets do this! Vinchit, Go!" Vinchit jumped off my shoulder onto the field. "Lets knock em' dead, Vin! Err, well, unconcious."

"Vin!" **Yeah!**

"Go, Icelet!"

"Icelet!" **victory is ours! **I snorted.

"Not so fast, Icelet. Okay, Vinchit, tackle!"

"Chit!" She tore off towards the Icelet.

"Icelet, Dodge and use water gun!" Icelet jumped to the side, just barely dodging Vinchit's attack. He shot a stream of water at Vinchit.

"Vinchit, use bullet seed and then vine whip!"

"Viinchiit!" Several large seeds shot out of vinchets mouth, coliding with Icelet's Water gun, causing an explosion.

The dust temporarily blinded Icelet, And he stumbled around. "Icelet! no, look behind you!"  
The dust cleared just in time to show two vines speeding yowards him. They smashed into Icelet, sending him flying Into a rock. It smashed apart, and Icelet tried getting up, stumbling to his feet. "Icelet, no!"

"Vinchit, use tackle! He slammed into Icelet, sending him sprawling. "Tackle again!" Vinchit sped toward the stumbling Icelet.. _really _fast.

"Was that quick attack?"

"Vin!" **Yes!**

"Okay, then, Vinchit, keep using quick attack!"

"Vin! Vin! Vin!"

"Icelet, use water gun!" Trent called out in desperation.

"Vinchit, bullet seed!"

"Viiiiin!"

"Icelet..."

"Icelet is unable to battle. The match goes to Andrea!" the referee shouted.

"Yes! Vinchit, we won!"

"Vin vin chet!" **I knew we could do it!"**

Trent ran up to his fallen pokemon. "Icelet, are you okay?"

"Icelet."

"Icelet, return. you deserve a good rest." red light from the pokeball engulfed Icelet and sucked him back in. Trent stood and brushed himself off, making his way over to me and vinchet.

"Great battle. I didnt stand a chance." I stood, Vinchet on my shoulder. "Here's some poke dollars."

"Oh, thanks!" I put them in my bag. "Riolu!" **great battle! **He had been watching from inside my bag. "Thanks, Riolu. I cant beleive we won our first battle!" Trent blinked.

"That was you're first battle? But you totally dominated out there!" I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks.

"Uh, thanks."

"You know, you are a very pretty girl." My cheeks flamed and I froze.

"Uh.."

"WWWAAAHHH! gimmie back pattie, meanie!" I turned, startled, then ran to the building. There was a little girl, no older than five, crying and wailing, and a man that was holding what I assumed to be the little girl's patrat, trying to put it in a sack. I stopped and stared. that man looked familiar.

"Patrat! patpat!" **Help me! susan! **I stepped in fron of her, hands on my hips, facing the man. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

The doors to the school burst open, and a worried looking Chives stood in the doorway. He paled visibly.

"You!"

**sorry its short, but I had to save the recongnization chapter for after this one.**

**review!**


	6. Brother?

Here** I am! posting a new chapter. i wanted to write it as bad as you wanted to read it, so now were both happy.**

**bold= pokemon talk.**

**I DO NOT OWN POKEMON**

Andy pov

"You!" Chives looked really shaken. the man looked surprised for a split second, then laughed.

"Chives! Its been too long."

I looked uncertainly at Chives. "You know this guy?" Chives nodded grimely. "Unfortunatly, yes." he looked to the man.

"Let that girl's pokemon go, Zack." Zack put on a mock shocked face. _Why does he look familiar?_

"Oh, Chives, what are you doing? going against us like this." I glared at him.

"Look, _Zach, _I dont know who you are and how you know Chives, and frankly I don't care, But if you don't put that girl's Patrat down _this instant,_ there's gonna be hell to pay." I said loudly.

I whispered to Vinchit out of the corner of my mouth. "Vin, I need you to go behind that man and use you're vine whip to pick up something big and heavy. Whack him when I give the signal." She nodded and jumped off and ran out the front door, probably planning to circle around to the back.

"Looks like you're pokemon aint all that confident, huh, Princess?" I started. _That's where I know this guy from! He looks just like Chives!_

"Don't call me princess." I growled coldly. I saw Vinchit sneaking up behind him with a large chunk of broken rock from our earlier battle in her vine. "Look, Guy. put the patrat down. last chance."

He laughed. Chives strode up beside me. "She's serious. I suggest you listen to her."

Zack looked surprised. "Oi, Chives, you traveling with a girl? Thought you were more of a loner. But she _is _pretty, I suppose," He purred, leering at me. Chives growled.

"Ugh, in you're dreams, loser. Vinchit!" I commanded.

WHAM!

Zack dropped with a thud. The patrat scampered back to the little girl, and she picked him up and skipped over to us. "Thank you, nice lady!"

"Oh, no problem. jerks like that deserve to be whacked in the head with a rock." Chives just shook his head, amused. The little girl bounced out of the school. I looked at Chives.

"Okay, spill. who is that guy?"

"..."

"Oh, no, we are not doing that again. unless you want to end up like that Zack character over their. on cue, Zack moaned.

Chives sighed. "He's.. myolderbrother.." He mumbled. "What?"

"He's my older brother.."

"_WHAT?"_

"I said that he's my-"

"I heard you! It's just, well, he's such a buttface, and you're so nice most of the time. Plus, I thought you said you didn't have a brother anymore." Chives looked amused. "Buttface?"

"Well, it's true. Seriously. Why did you tell me you didn't have a brother?" I crossed my arms expectantly.

"I don't."

"You just said he was your brother!" I cried, exasperated."

"By blood, maybe. But he's no brother of mine." Chives said firmly.

"Vinchit!" **He's gone!**

"What?" I turned. "Aw, crap." He wasnt there. Chives cursed.

"Must've run off when we werent looking."

"I wonder what was with that weird outfit." I wondered aloud. Chives looked pained.

"Team Vortex."

"What?"

"They're a group of baddies who steal people's pokemon."

"What! And you're brother's a member.. Wait! Why is it that he said you were 'going against him'?"

"'Cause I used to be a member." He sighed at my startled expression. "I was just trying to be like my big brother, y'know? when I finally couldn't stand hurting people and pokemon anymore, I quit."

"Oh.."

C'mon, better go tell officer Jenny to watch out for that guy."

"Yeah."

* * *

**_A couple hours later..._**

chives pov

So, Zack was back. _just perfect.._ I sighed. We were at the pokemon center, And Andy was healing her Vinchit and buying some pokeballs while I checked us out a room for the night.

We had told Officer Jenny to watch out for a shady character that stole pokemon, but I got the feeling that they werent going to find him. It made me nervous. So, they knew I was traveling with someone by now. That could be a danger to Andy..

espescially with the way he was looking at her..

_"Looks like you're pokemon aint all that confident, huh, Princess?" _

_"Dont call me princess." Andy growled. I saw Vinchit sneaking up behind him with a large chunk of broken rock._

_"Look, Guy. put the patrat down. last chance."_

_He laughed. I stepped up beside her. "She's serious. I suggest you listen to her."_

_Zack looked surprised. "Oi, Chives, you traveling with a girl? thought you were more of a loner. But she is pretty, I suppose," He purred, leering at Andy. I growled._

_"Ugh, in you're dreams, loser. Vinchit!"_

I would just have to be more careful, And keep an eye on Andy.

"Here's you're room key, sir," Nurse joy inturrupted my train of thought.

"Oh, uh, thanks." I took it and took the elevator up to our room, where Andy and I had agreed to meet, and slumped down onto a bed.

_Andy can take care of herself, but I'll be careful just in case..._

* * *

Andy's pov.

"Thank you. I took my package of eleven pokeballs and put them in my bag.

"Have a nice day, ma'am."

"You too. thanks."

I sat in a chair to wait for nurse joy to finish Vinchit's treatment. Riolu jumped in my lap. "Ri!"** Hi, andy!**

I rubbed his head. "Hey, Riolu. How'd you're checkup go?"

"Ri. luu lu Ri lu iolu luu ri." **Fine. she said whatever you did pretty much fixed me.**

"Glad to hear it."

"Ri...luu ri?" **so.. did you get pokeballs? **Riolu asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah."

"Rii...lu..riluuluriioluri!" **Umm..ah.. please catch me I want to go with you!"** He rushed.

"You wanna go with me?"

"Rii!" **Yes!**

"Okay, then!" I held out a ball after digging around in my bag. He tapped the button with his nose and got absorbed by the red light.

_Ding.. ding... ding... Dong!_

"Awesome! I caught a Riolu!" I minimized the ball and put it on my belt. leaning back, I thought about today.

_~I looked uncertainly at Chives. "You know this guy?" Chives nodded grimely. "Unfortunatly, yes."~_

_~"Looks like you're pokemon aint all that confident, huh, Princess?"_ **_Thats where I know this guy from! he looks just like Chives!~_**

_~"Oi, Chives, you traveling with a girl? thought you were more of a loner. But she is pretty, I suppose," He purred, leering at me. Chives growled. _

_"Ugh, in you're dreams, loser. Vinchit!" _

_WHAM! Zack dropped with a thud. ~_

_~"Okay, spill. who is that guy?" _

_"He's my older brother.." _

_ "WHAT?"~_

So Chives had an older brother named Zack. Great, but he was a huge idiot. On the plus side, I did catch a Riolu. I sighed, then stood, walking over to the counter. I rang the bell. "Yes?" Nurse joy asked.

"Excuse me, but is Vinchit almost ready?"

"Oh! yes. He's right here." Vinchit jumped up onto the counter, then my shoulder.

"Thank you."

"You're perfectly welcome!" she bowed her head. "We hope to see you again!"

I stepped onto the elevator.

_Ding.. ding.._

The way that man looked at me..

_"Oi, Chives, you traveling with a girl? thought you were more of a loner. But she is pretty, I suppose," He purred, leering at me. Chives growled._

_"Ugh, in you're dreams, loser. Vinchit!"_

I shivered. But now that I had another pokemon, I could defend myself, plus I had Chives. what pokemon did he have, anyway? I'd never seen them.

_Ding!_

The elevator door opened. I walked down the hall, then opened the door to our room. Chives was already sleeping, so I changed into my blue ducklett pajamas. movement caught my eye.

"Huh?" I looked to the window. I could've sworn..

I sighed, shrugging. Oh, well. probably just overreacting. but i still had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

_My feelings have never been wrong before.._

I pushed the thought away and climbed into bed. Vinchet jumped up and snuggled into my side. _I'll ask him about his pokemon tomorrow.._

* * *

dark figure's pov

A shadowy figure watched through the window while she changed. He grinned. So Chives was traveling with someone. I can work with that. The girl's head jerked towards the window and I jumped out of the way. She looked around suspiciously for a moment before sighing.

_That was too close.._

How on earth did she even notice I was there? Ah, well. No matter. The girl shrugged and went to bed with that stupid pokemon of hers. I winced and rubbed the back of my head, glaring. I glanced one last time at Chives.

"We'll meet again, brother," I whispered. "You and that girl haven't seen the last of me."

**Okay, I probably wont post again for a couple of days..Ill be busy.**

**REVIEW**


	7. Nightmares and bad eggs

**new chappie up! finally figured out how to start the next chapter.. oh, I edited a lot of the old chapters, and you might want to read them again. minor changes. just in case any of you don't know what a chive is its a really small edible onion. oh, I have an image of chives, shin obin. Its too big to put for the title pic, so im gonna help my artist set up a deviant art so you can check it out there, kay? it might take awhile though, so bear with me.**

**happy reading!**

**bold = pokemon talk.**

**I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.**

chives pov

I was running down a shadowed hallway. The walls would have been a bright golden color, had there been any light to see by. I was stepping on.. clouds?

I didn't have time to think. They had her! I wasn't sure exactly who, or where i was going, but I did know I needed to get to them fast. My footsteps pounded against the floor, the only sound in this eerily silent place. A scream. I ran faster.

Fear clogged my throat, but I wasn't afraid for me. I was afraid for someone else. I didn't know who, but I had to get to them, before something bad happened.

The corrider stretched on forever. My heart thudded in my ears, I was breathing hard, sweat running down my neck. I ran. I was being chased, that much I knew. I had to get to her! Cold chills seeped down my spine, and I shivered. They were right on top of me, I could feel their warm breath against my neck. A light!

I tore out of the hallway, and into a large, brightly lit room that in any other situation would've been beautiful.

Big skylights with gold vine and flower patterns painted on the huge windows, and sky-blue walls. The whole room looked like a ballroom, with a large white pedestal in the center of the room. The floor tiles formed a mosaic of some kind of ball formed by golden wisps of dust. But my gaze was focused on the figure lying chained to that pedestal, limp and unmoving. She lay there in a pool of her own blood, her silver hair speckled with red, Her gold eyes closed.

I gave a cry and and ran towards her, I had to help her, save her-

Fingers wrapped around my throat, I couldn't breathe. My attacker pulled my head back roughly to face his.

"You are too late, brother," Zack whispered manically.

He laughed. It was the most sinister sound I had ever heard.

* * *

_"ANDY!" _I woke with a start, shooting upwards. I was breathing hard, bathed in a cold sweat. Said girl was standing worriedly by my bed, wringing her hands.

"Chives, chill," She soothed. "You were having a nightmare." I stared at her face. No blood. I wiped my forehead, letting out a relieved sigh.

"'Are you okay?" Andy asked with a concerned voice. I forcibly calmed myself down, slowing my ragged breathing and slumping back into bed.

"Yeah, I'm good. Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? You were thrashing around and mumbling something about being too late. Too late for what?"

"Nothing. It was nothing. I'm fine."

"If you're sure.." She said hesitantly.

"I'm sure."

"Okay.." she fixed me with a demanding stare. "But if you need me, wake me up." she ordered. she stepped away, reluctant to leave. I smiled gently.

"Will do." I said softly. she sighed and went back to her bed. Despite my words, there was no way I was going to be able to sleep.

After a few minutes, Andy's breathing slowed and evened out. Vinchit was sound asleep on Andy's chest. I got out of bed as quietly as I could and grabbed Andy's poke' ball receipt and a pencil, jotting down a quick note. I slipped out the door and made my way down the hall, turning into the elevator. I pressed the button labeled 'first floor' and the elevator doors slid shut.

**Ding.. ding..**

_She lay there in a pool of her own blood, her silver hair speckled with red, Her gold eyes closed._

**Ding..**

_I gave a cry and and ran towards her, I had to help her, save her-_

_Fingers wrapped around my throat, I couldn't breathe._

**Ding! **

The elevator pinged and swished open. The lobby was dark, there wasn't anybody up at this hour. I hurried across the room and out of the pokemon center, into the cool night air. I shrugged on my jacket and stepped out onto the street. I walked past the houses, and the school, the movie theatre, a couple of restaurants.

_My attacker pulled my head back roughly to face his. "You are too late, brother," Zack whispered manically._

I shoved my hands into my pockets, walking silently for a few minutes, or maybe hours; I wasn't sure.

_He laughed. It was the most sinister sound I had ever heard._

I shivered. I had thought that after I quit, I'd be done with them if I kept my head down and stayed off their radar. I tried not traveling with anyone, keeping any possible danger completely to myself, but it hadn't worked out that way.

Andy fascinated me, she was lively and energetic and kick-butt. I had seen her both care lovingly for an injured pokemon she had never met before, and I had seen her catch magicarp with her bare hands. She could probably take me down, along with any pokemon or people that stood in her way.

But now she was in danger, all because I had given in to the selfish desire to have a friend. I wasn't going to leave, she would come after me and body slam me into the ground if I did, and besides, I didn't want to, anyway. The only option was to be extremely cautious, and watch both mine and Andy's back. If I knew my brother, we'd see him again.

He had a bone or two to pick with me, and would use any means necessary to get at me.

But it was just a dream. Andy was fine, and I didn't even know any dank corridors that stretched on forever or a giant room with clouds for a floor.

_I'm just overreacting.._

I sighed and turned on my heel to head back to the pokemon center.

* * *

Andy's pov

"Too late.. have to hurry.."

What?

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Vinchit rolled off me and onto the bed, and I looked over to Chives. He was tossing and turning, breathing hard. I got out of bed and tiptoed across the room over to his bed. His face was scrunched up in terror, and he moaned.

"Chives?" I whispered.

"Gotta hurry.. hurt her.." He panted breathlessly. His feet kicked and he jerked.

"Chives! wake up!" I shook him by the shoulders. I was getting scared. He cried out in his sleep.

"No.. no.." He was sweating and looked absolutely panicked. Then he shot up, eyes wide, and I stumbled back.

_"ANDY!" _He yelled. He blinked and looked around. Then his eyes landed on me, and his face flooded with relief, but he still looked nervous and thoroughly freaked.

"Chives, chill. You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?" I asked. He let out a breath and calmed down a little, lying back on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm good. Go back to sleep." Something told me he was lying. Chives looked really shaken up.

"Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously. "You were thrashing around and mumbling something about being too late. too late for what?"

"Nothing. It was nothing. I'm fine."

"If you're sure.." I said hesitantly. "I'm sure."

"Okay.." I glared at him pointedly. "But if you need me, wake me up." He smiled at me reassuringly.

"Will do."

Reluctantly, I stepped back over to my bed. I didn't want to leave him like that, and in any other circumstance I wouldn't, but it was.. I glanced at the clock. 2:06. I winced. Worried as I was, I wasn't a morning person at nine, let alone two, and I would fall asleep standing if I tried to stay up.

I snuggled under the covers and Vinchit jumped onto my chest, turning a few times before finally lying down. I looked at Chives one last time. He appeared to be asleep, but I doubted it. I yawned.

_I wonder why he shouted my name.._

* * *

Chives pov

The bell jingled, startling me as I stepped back into the lobby. All was quiet.

_She lay there in a pool of her own blood_..

I shook my head angrily, attempting to dislodge the image from my brain. I failed miserably.

It wasn't real.

That didn't happen.

But I still had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach..

And my feelings weren't usually wrong.

I growled. Andy was safe, and I was going to make sure she stayed that way, no matter what my gut said.

I made my way back to the elevator and down the hall to our room. Andy was still sleeping, so I crumpled up my note and tossed it in the wastebasket by the door. I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I wasn't going to bed any time soon, so I might as well get ready.

The hot water ran down my face and shoulders, and I relaxed for the first time that night.

* * *

Andy's pov

When I woke up, the shower was running and Chives was nowhere to be seen. I had woken up early, for once.

I looked at the clock. 7:30.

I groaned, but I was already wide awake. I carefully removed Vinchit from me and deposited him on the bed beside me. He stayed asleep. I pulled off the covers and put my feet on the floor. Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head and stood. I shuffled into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Hmmm..."

Chives was in the shower. I could make eggs.

Right?

_**10 minutes later...**_

"Ahh! crap!" I fanned at the smoke with my hands.

"Water, water.." I mumbled. I reached my hand behind my back and felt around the counter, finally finding a glass of water and splashing onto the stove. the whole thing hissed and sparked, belching out more smoke, and generally got worse. I coughed. my face was smudged with smoke and burned things.

_Oh, right, can't put water on an electrical fire..._

I grabbed a hand towel off the sink and started fanning at the flame. because things weren't bad enough and Arceus hated me, it caught fire.

I yelped and dropped it. The fire alarms blared. _Crap, crap.._

Coughing and swiping at my stinging eyes, I ran out of the kitchen.

_THUD._

My face collided with something warm, solid, and wet. I looked up. Chives looked down at me and sighed.

Heat crept up my neck when I realized I was still pressed against his chest, and he wasn't wearing anything but a towel around his waist. I very quickly removed myself.

"Uhh.."

"Why is the kitchen smoking?"

_Oh, yeah. that._

"Umm.. eggs?" He raised an eyebrow.

"So you managed to set the kitchen on fire making eggs?"

"Well, you were in the shower, so I thought that maybe I could make breakfast for once. But I think I cooked them too long 'cause they got hard and kinda black, then it caught fire, so I tried to put it out with water-"

"You put water on an electrical fire?"

"I forgot! Anyway, That made it worse, so I tried putting it out with a dish towel, but-"

"Let me guess. It caught fire?" He asked sarcastically.

"Heh, heh.." He shook his head in disbelief.

"And through all this, did you try turning off the flame on the stove?" I sweatdropped.

"Oh.." I said lamely, rubbing the back of my neck.

He sighed again and walked into the kitchen. "You really should just let me cook next time, okay?" He called.

"..."

* * *

Chives pov

I take a fifteen minute shower, and she manages to catch the kitchen on fire.

"And through all this, did you try turning off the flame on the stove?"

"Oh.."

I knew she was a bad cook, but seriously?

I rolled my eyes and made my way into the smoking kitchen. "You really should just let me cook next time, okay?" I called over my shoulder.

Silence.

I laughed, fanning the air in front of my face, making my way over to the stove. I turned off the flame, then pulled back my hand fast. "Ouch! Ow, hot!" I blew on my now red fingers, reaching into a nearby drawer and grabbing an oven mitt.

I picked up the flaming pan quickly by the handle and dumped it into the sink, switching on the cold water. The flame sizzled out and steam rose from the sink with a hiss. I rubbed my eyes and coughed, grabbing the bowl Andy had used to crack the eggs and filling it with water from the sink, and extinguished the flaming towel on the ground.

Then I turned and opened the window to let out the smoke, spotting a few fire trucks outside. _Great.._ I picked up a broom next to the fridge and poked the little button on the fire alarm, and it cut off mid ear-shattering wail.

A few minutes later, all the fire was out and the smoke was mostly gone. I stepped out into the living room. Andy was waiting just outside the door. "Next time you're hungry and I'm busy with something, just tell me and I'll drop everything and run." She giggled, and I smiled.

"Haha, yeah.." Her stomach growled, and I face-palmed. "You go down there and explain to the nice firemen that everything is under control while I put some clothes on, and I'll make you some food... in the microwave."

* * *

_**A few hours** **later..**_

Andy's pov

we were all dressed, packed, and ready to go. since there weren't any gyms in this town, I battled a little more to get some poke bucks and we bought supplies for the next couple weeks(And paid for the ruined pan and towel). I had about 500$ left, so I tucked that into my bag.

I was wearing my favorite V-necked camo long sleeved shirt and black pants. And, of course, my hat and necklace. I tied my jacket around my waist. Chives, well.. same old Dark clothes.

We were just about to step out onto route 3 when..

"Hey! Andy!" Confused, I turned to see who was calling me. A familiar blonde head bobbed up and down, and he waved.

"Trent?"

"You know this guy?" Chives asked. "Yeah, we battled yesterday."

He ran up to us. "Hey! Yeesh, you walk fast. I thought I missed you, Andy!" He took my hands in his. I pulled them back, putting them instead on my hips.

"And where exactly did you run off to when that creep stole the little girl's Patrat?"

His smile froze in place.

"Ah... I heard my mom calling me?" It was more of a question then a statement. Chives looked half amused and half pissed.

"You ran away, didn't you?" He asked.

"Uh, that's not important now. I came here to ask Andy if she wanted to go to the movies with me." Chives started to look less amused and more pissed off. he growled. Trent backed up.

"Chill, man. She's pretty." Chives practically hissed at him. I stepped up to them and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Chives, relax." He glared at Trent, but backed off. Trent looked relieved. I looked at him.

"Trent, why do you want to go out with me?" He looked confused.

"What kind of question is that? You're hot. Perfect for me."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, I'm Barbie and you're Ken?" He beamed.

"Exactly!" Chives had a deadly expression on his face, but Trent didn't seem to notice.

"Wrong answer. I'm no doll. Come on, Chives. we're leaving." I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards route three. He grinned at Trent with a silly and childish smile. Were he any younger he probably would've stuck out his tongue and went, "Nah nah nah nah-nah." I looked towards the road, but I'd barely taken a step before I felt fingers close around my wrist and was pulled violently away from Chives. Vinchit fell off my shoulder.

"Hey!" I protested, looking back at Trent.

"Come on, Andy. let's go." He said cheerfully. He started dragging me back to Niche town. Vinchit bit at his ankle, but Trent just kicked him away. I yanked on my arm, growling and spitting but Trent was stronger then he looked.

"Lemme go, jerk! Chives!" I cried.

I dug my heels into the dirt, clawing and smacking his hand, but he didn't seem to notice. "Come on, baby, calm down. we-" A smacking sound and a sudden groan of pain, and the pressure on my wrist was gone. I slowly opened one eye. Chives was standing over a fallen Trent, his hands clenched into fists.

Trent was moaning and holding his nose. Chives was breathing hard, eyes wild. He looked absolutely livid. "You mess with her, you mess with me, _Trent_. And I am _not _somebody you want as an enemy. Clear?" He snarled. I blinked, surprised he was standing up for me like that. Trent nodded frantically and tried to squirm away from Chives, who probably looked like death to Trent.

"Uh.. Thanks, Chives."

His eyes flicked to me, and he straightened, trying to regain his I-don't-care attitude, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "No problem," He said cooly, looking down at Trent, "I was just waiting for a chance to do that. As a good friend of mine once said, He was a buttface."

I snorted and he grinned. We continued down route three, leaving Trent trying feebly to stand up. "You know.. if he hadn't surprised me like that, I would've snapped his wrist. or just kicked him in the ding-dongs." Chives laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure."

"I'm serious!"

He flashed me one of his half-smiles. "I know you are. There's a reason I don't contradict you." I giggled.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a while. I remembered a thought from last night.

"Hey, Chives?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

I shoved his shoulder and he stumbled, laughing. "You know what I mean!" I huffed.

"Yeah."

"So can I?"

"Shoot."

"Well, last night, before, well, you know.." Chives winced. "Sorry. Anyway, before that whole thing, I was wondering.."

"Yeah?" He prompted.

"What pokemon do you have?" I blurted. "I haven't seen them." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Her. you've never seen her."

I looked at him quizzically. "Just one? I got the impression that you're not a new trainer."

"Nope. been battling for years. I was one of Vortex's best."

"Oh, yeah? what pokemon is it? Does she have a name? Is she powerful, so you don't need six pokemon? What type is it? How-"

He laughed, putting up his hands. "Woah, woah, one at a time, please." I blushed.

"Sorry. What is she?"

"Oh, she's a-"

"Hey!" A voice interrupted. "You two!"

**Dodges fruit and rotten vegetables thrown by the three or so people who actually read this story. sorry, sorry! Oh, and when school starts, I wont be able to update. Ill try for a steady every Saturday, but don't be surprised when it comes the week after. I have limited computer time when there's studying to be done.**

** by the way: What happened to my readers? The preproluge wasn't the story! I had 54 reads on that one, but I guess people lost intrest because the first actual chapter dropped to 36 readers, **

**and I guess they didn't want me to do ash's pov, cause the second chapter where its finally Andys pov My reads drop down to 15! **

**by the third real chap I had only 8 reads,**

**fourth, 9**

**Fifth, 5.**

**the previous one, 5. **

**five? What happened to 54? shin obin, you are the only reviewer who wasn't my friend or my brother. thank you! But seriously,**

**REVIEW.**


	8. Demon girl from hell

**Hello, readers! the five that are still reading this.. this is my next chappie. **

**Oh, id love to thank shin obin for another review! they make me so happy! (And then my dad has to tell me to quit spazzing...)**

**Also, I got a strange review from a guest who calls him/her self sneasel x riolu:**

I'm gonna make a pokemon tournament but I can't make storys yet so just answer

this is my trainer name:Karma

team:typhlosin male Lv50, teddiursa female lv50, parasect female Lv50, golbat male Lv50, pigot female Lv50, mantine female Lv50

personallaty:confident

flaws:clumsy,and dramaful

that's my trainer

Rule #1: no legendary's!

Rule #2: If you do not have a team of 6 I will randomly choose one of my own

Rule #3:Every chapter is a battle

Rule #4: the Battles are k.o. battles

Pirizes #3 a life time supply of pokefood plus 10,000 poke

#2 a life time supply of berries plus 100,000 poke

#1 a life time supply of both, 1,000,000 poke and a mystery prize.

**what? what exactly are you asking me? please review the meaning.. sounds like a good story, though.**

**anyways! on with the chappie**

Andy's pov

* * *

_previously on pokemon: across the skies_

"What pokemon do you have?" I blurted. "I haven't seen them." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Her. you've never seen her."

I looked at him quizzically. "Just one? I got the impression that you're not a new trainer."

"Nope. been battling for years. I was one of Vortex's best."

"Oh, yeah? what pokemon is it? Does she have a name? Is she powerful, so you don't need six pokemon? What type is it? How-"

He laughed, putting up his hands. "Woah, woah, one at a time, please." I blushed.

"Sorry. What is she?"

"Oh, she's a-"

"Hey!" A voice interrupted. "You two!"

* * *

_Now on pokemon: across the skies_

We both looked up. running down route three was a rather large man who looked like he'd had way too many poffins. he was wearing a red and white hawaiin shirt, and his potbelly poked out from underneath. A grimy yellow straw hat lay crookedly on his shiny, bald head. In his hand he held a squirming, soaking wet sack.

"Uhh.. yes?" I asked.

"I have great deal for you!" He leaned in close to my face waving the sack. "Pokémon, top condition, only 200 poke!"

"What?"

The man opened the bag and I peered inside. I gasped.

"Oh, my!" Inside was a exhausted looking Tympole flopping weakly around.

"Tym, pole.." **hungry, tired..**

I saw red. "Are you telling me that you're _selling _a pokemon like a piece of clothing? Why, you-!" I lunged at him, and the man squeaked and backed up, but Chives grabbed my shoulders.

"Easy, princess, easy." He grunted. I growled and tried to tug away. Vinchit hopped off my shoulder and onto Chives', knowing where this was headed.

"Let me get him! You didn't hear that pokemon! That guy hasn't fed it in weeks, Its got bruises and is completely dried up!" Chives looked at the man and raised an eyebrow.

"That true? Dude, you picked the worst person in the world to try and sell a pokemon to." He smirked and let me go. "Good luck, man."

I screeched and leapt at him.

_**about 8 minutes** **later..**_

"Ugghh..." The greasy little Arbok was lying dazed on the ground with starly flying circles around his head.

"Hmph! That'll teach you to hurt pokemon!" I stood and brushed the dirt off my pants. Chives was watching all of this with an amused expression. I looked over to wear the man had dropped his sack.

The little tympole had managed to wriggle it's way out of the bag, but was now lying on the ground, too tired to move. I stepped over to it and crouched down, picking it up gently and cradling it. I pulled a water bottle out of my bag and poured half of it up and down the Tympole's body, and dripped the rest of it slowly into his mouth. The weak pokemon swallowed as much of it as she could.

"Hey," I said softly. "My name's Andy. You're gonna be just fine."

"Pole, tym pole.." **Okay, nice trainer..**

"I need you to tell me where it hurts. Can you do that?"

"Tym.. Tym.. Tym." she rasped. **Tail.. face.. tummy."**

"Okay. does that man have any other pokemon?" I spoke quietly so as to comfort her.

"Pole.. tym tym pole tym." **No.. He caught me but he didn't like** **me.**

"You poor thing. I'm going to give you to my friend Chives, okay? I need to make you something to eat." The Tympole protested feebly.

"Tym! pole pole tym!" **No! Don't leave!**

"Don't worry, little Lilly. I'll be right here." I walked over to Chives. "Here," I placed him gently in Chives hands. "Talk to her, hum, just comfort her. She needs about zero stress right now." He nodded and awkwardly started rocking her.

I took off my bag and grabbed some Oran berrys and poke food. I squashed the berries in my crusher, and mixed in powdered food. I stood and spooned it gently into Tympole's mouth.

Eventually, Tympole fell asleep. Me and chives at together at the base of a tree, and Vinchit went exploring in some nearby bushes. "I can't believe it! How many times are we going to find abused pokemon? It's ridiculous!"

"Yeah.. But I doubt he's gonna do it again." He glanced over at the still KO'd man. "He'll be terrified that the demon girl from hell will find him again." I snorted.

"Yeah, that's true. And I can't wait to find the guy who almost killed Riolu. Eventually word will get out that a psycho's going around trashing everyone who hurts a pokemon. Hopefully that deters any future incidents like this." I looked down at the Tympole in my lap.

Chives snickered, and I smiled. We locked eyes. A warm, fuzzy feeling filled my chest. He regarded me silently with his dark eyes. I stared. Chives leaned towards me slowly, his black eyes seeming to bore into my very being, and I found myself doing the same. _Is he going to..?_

We were inches from each others face, our foreheads almost touching, getting closer and closer..

"Pole?"

His eyes went wide, and my cheeks lit on fire as we both realized the position we were in. We jerked apart, awkwardly trying to sit back on the tree.

"I, uh, didn't-" He stated at the same time I said, "Oh, uh, um-"

"Tym, Pole tym tym pole!" **Hey, it dosen't hurt anymore!**

I quickly averted my eyes to Tympole, grateful for the distraction. "Oh, Uh, hey, sweetie. All better?"

pole tym tym.. pole pole tym!" **Still hungry.. but I feel great!**

"Glad to hear it, little water Lilly." I looked up. it was getting dark.

"Tym pole, tym tym?" **Trainer, can I stay with you?**

I blinked. "Oh, you wanna travel with me, Lilly?"

"Tym!" **yeah!**

"Alrighty then, Lilly, welcome to the team!" I tapped her with a pokeball, and she got absorbed into it with a _ting, ting, ting, ting!_

"Sweet, now I have a tympole! My team is growing. Hey, now that I think about it.." I took Riolu's ball of my belt and pressed the button to enlarge, throwing it into the air. Riolu burst out. I released Tympole.

"Hey, Vinchit, come play with Riolu and Lilly!" I called. Vinchit ran out of the bushes and over to the Pokémon. They started fighting and practicing moves with some advanced version of Tag.

"Hey, cool, they're training! Not a lot of trainers to fight out here. That'll make them stronger!"

"Yeah." Chives said. _Chives.._ I had come _this close_ to kissing him. I was mortified, but at the same time strangely disappointed. Did he like me? Heck, did I like him? No, I couldn't! Id known him for, what, two weeks? Not nearly long enough to have a crush._ But.. he is cute, in a bad boy kind of way.. _"Quit it!"

"Huh?" Chives looked confused. I sweatdropped.

"Oh, haha, not you." I stuttered nervously.

Chives gazed at me a moment longer, then looked abruptly away. "Oh.."

_Still, I wonder if he likes me.._

* * *

chives pov

I looked away while she tended the Pokémon. _Holycrapholycrapholycrap.._

I almost kissed her.

I almost kissed _Andy!_

___Holycrapholycrapholycrap.._

There was no way I liked her. No way, not even a little bit, no.

_But she is pretty, in a I'll kick your butt kind of way.._

No! No. besides, it's not like she liked me. It was probably one sided. _That's not what it looked like when she almost kissed you back._

"Quit it!" startled, I looked over at Andy.

"Huh?" I asked. Okay, I _know _she can't read minds. She sweatdropped.

"Oh, haha, not you."

The moonlight reflected off her silver hair, creating a soft glow. Her gold eyes were bright.

_You look cute when you're embarrassed.._

Ah! I tore my gaze away. No, no, no, stop thinking thoughts about Andy!

Something dropped onto my shoulder. I looked over to see Andy fast asleep, her head resting against me. I studied her quietly. I had never seen her asleep before, save for the hotel, since she never slept on the ground. _M__ust've been too tired to climb a tree._ I sat there for Arceus know how long, just staring at her. Eventually the Pokémon curled up next to Andy one by one and fell asleep.

"You look cute when you're asleep, too," I whispered.

* * *

dark figures pov

I grinned from my spot high in the trees. Would you look at that. Chives and That stupid girl, sleeping together under the moonlight. How disgustingly perfect. _Looks like little brother forgot that when you have enemies, vulnerable girlfriends aren't the way to go._

This was going to be fun.

**Okay, a little short, I know, but at least I updated, I didn't think id have time to today.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **


	9. Wood and mint leaves

**first off, i am very happy to say that i have more readers! yay! also, i realized after posting that one of my previous authors notes says i have and image of ****_chives._**** i meant to say vinchit. whoops, sorry! Oh, and i forgot to mention that Andy wears back combat boots. also, It seems that people read the pre proluge and then leave the story and dont ever read it, so im going to just delete it.**

**Chives: can we hurry this up a little, please? Nobody even ****_reads _****the author's notes.**

**Me: *grumbles* Just as bad as andy..**

**Chives: Its true! they just skip to the story.**

**Me: Hey! I read every author's note. some are funny.**

**Andy: yes, well, this one isnt, so please just type the story. we've been under a tree since yesterday!**

**Me: whatever. youll wish you were under a tree with chives when you realize that theres more to the plot then meets the eye.**

**Andy: Whats that? the whole thing is leaning towards chives vs zack.**

**Me: And now its time for the story! **

**Andy: Wait, you never answered my-**

**Me: I do not own pokemon. enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Andy's pov

_We locked eyes. A warm, fuzzy feeling filled my chest. Chives leaned towards me slowly, his black eyes seeming to bore into my very being, and I found myself doing the same. Is he going to..?_

_We were inches from each others face, our foreheads almost touching, getting closer and closer.. I waited for Tympole to inturrupt, but he didn't._

_Chives got closer. I looked into his eyes, when suddenly I wasnt looking at Chives anymore. I was looking at Zack._

My eyes snapped open. "Unnh?" My pillow shifted a little. I moved my face a little to get more comfortable and saw that I had my head against Chives' shoulder, and his head was resting on mine. I froze.

_Holy..._

It's not like I could move. I'd wake him up. His arm was aroud my shoulder, and my hat had fallen off and now lay in my lap. Vinchit, Riolu, and Tympole were curled up next to me.

It was still dark out, and the moon was full. Hundreds of stars splashed across the sky, bright against the inky black. I carefully pushed Chives' head up and off me(Not that I didnt enjoy it, mind you, but I was getting fidgety and couldnt sit still), leaning it back against the tree.

He didnt wake up. I watched as his chest rose and fell slowly, breathing softly. His face looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, no sarcastic face or worry lines.

_Hmm.. if only he could see himself like that. I need a camera._

_Or maybe.._

I gently removed Chives' hand and put it at his side. I tilted my head, studying him silently. He was leaning back against the tree with one knee up and the other down, His face soft and unaffected. perfect. I scooted away from him and stood, making my way over to our unused firewood, picking up a piece about the size of my hand.

I reached into my boot and pulled out my pocketknife, positioning myself in front of Chives. I carved off a chunk of wood, shavings falling to the ground. I looked at chives, then back to the wood.

_Perfect.._

* * *

**_Four hours later_**

chives pov.

I woke to a light scraping sound. my shoulder was cold, Andy must have woken up and climbed a tree or something. _Idiot,_ I thought to myself, _you think she wanted to stay like that? Probably went as high up as possible._

I opened my eyes. Andy was sitting in front of me, carving away on a chunk of wood. I blinked and made to sit up. "Wha-"

"Don't move," She ordered. I stilled and leaned back against the tree.

"Okay, but what-"

"I said don't move! stay still!" _O__ookay.._

A good ten minutes later she finally stopped and flicked the knife shut, slipping it into her boot._ Oh. So she's been armed this whole time._

"Okay, you can move now." I opened my eyes and sat up, rubbing at the crick in my neck. She was studying the figurine closely. "Good thing I made the face first, his whole expression changed when he woke up. It's not great, but it's decent.." She mumbled to herself.

"Uh.. right. what is it?" She seemed to suddenly notice I was there.

"Oh! I woke up early, and I couldn't sleep, and your face was just so peaceful I had to carve it!" She didn't mention how she woke up at all. She held out the little wooden person towards me, and I leaned forward, taking it curiously.

_Freaking mother of-_

It looked just like me! Well, sort of. My face was tranquil, for once. My hair was messy and extremely detailed. One leg was up and the other was down, a hand across my lap and the other by my side. I could almost _see _the thing breathing. The wrinkles in my shirt, my jacket. If I leaned it up against something, It would look like it was sleeping.

My mouth was hanging open. "Arceus- any other hidden talents I should know about? Good grief, Princess. It looks like its gonna wake up at any second!" She smiled.

"Naw, I just did a lot of carving back home. Helped me focus."

"Oh.."

"Anyways, thats for you. I thought it'd be cool for you to see yourself without you fixing everything to make it look like nothing's wrong." I tore my gaze from mini-me and looked at Andy.

"What? Theres nothing-" She cut me off, holding up a hand.

"I'm not going to pry when you obviously won't tell me, but I'm not stupid. I see you look over your shoulder, and jump at any sudden noise or movement that doesn't come from me." I slumped against the tree. Was I that obvious?

"Whatever it is, just know that there are two of us now. We're in this together, to the end." She looked determined. I sighed.

"It's really nothing.." I muttered.

"See! That's just what I'm talking about. You did that when you had that nightmare, too. I'm not expecting you to tell me, I'm just saying you can."

What was I supposed to say? I shifted uncomfortably. "Oh.. Uh.." _Change the subject, Chives, change it to something that'll distract her._

"Um.. you hungry yet? What time is it?" She sighed, and her face drooped.

"Fine, don't tell me."

_Aw, man. now I feel bad. _I growled softly. "Really, Andy. I'm just a little jumpy since I saw Zack, thats all."

"Oh, is that all?" She grinned. "Dont worry 'bout that jerk. I'll just hit him with a rock, or maybe bullet seed or something." I laughed, a little nervously.

"Yeah, I bet you will. He's probably too scared to face off with you again, anyways." I was lying through my teeth.

"So, again. you hungry yet?" She beamed.

"Oh, right! I made breakfast!" The smile dropped from my face.

"Uh.. what?"

She crossed her arms defensivley. "Don't be like that!" She huffed. "My hands hurt from carving, so I took a break and found some berries and stuff. Can't burn the forest down with fruit salad, right?" She reached behind her and handed me a bowl, which I took tentivley. I'd had her food before.

It was my personal mission to make sure that she _never _made sandwiches again. But I'd had to eat them, she'd gone all big sparkly jigglypuff eyes at me, just like she was doing now. I peered inside the bowl.

It didn't _look _explosive. Apricots, sitrus berries, chesto berries, lum berries, others that I couldnt identify, multiple sprigs of some kind of leaf, and lettuce, with some kind of red sauce.

"Did you find all this stuff?" I questioned.

"Yeah! Found 'em all in the woods. That's mint leaf, by the way. Not poisonous." _Oh, yes, _I prayed. _Please don't let whatever it is be poisonous._

She handed me a fork and sat back, watching me expectantly. "Go on," She prompted when I just stared at it. "I swear, this time it will _not _blow up when you bite it."

_Well, that's reassuring.._

I closed my eyes and took a bite. It didnt explode, or burn, and I didn't fall asleep(Somehow she ended up not noticing a dustox come by and use sleep powder in the food), and all in all..

It didn't taste bad.

My eyes opened in surprise. It was actually pretty good. Sweet and crunchy with a shot of mint. I was suddenly wide awake.

Andy grinned. "Yes! I _knew _I could do berries! Oh, you might not be able to sleep much today, with the chesto berries. I used green apricots, oran berries, lum, and sitrus, so we'll have all kinds of energy today. I gave the Pokemon some, too," She said happily.

I actually ate it all, and had seconds.

Who knew?

**Yes, it was short, Sorry. just a filler..**

**but I was bored and had to write SOMETHING.**

**review! I keep saying that, but it never works, cept for shin obin..**


	10. steel-tipped boots

**Hola! Double digit chapter! YAY!**

**High school has already proven to ****_suck. _Though that may be due to my horrible organization.. ah, well. take life as it goes, right? Anyway. **

**shin obin, sorry! I probably sound so annoying. i'll stop whining and write. by the way, to anyone who cares, my artist now has an account on deviant art. her penname is Geraniumpickle, if you want to see Vinchit.**

Andy's pov

_"WHOO- HOOO!" _I yelled gleefully, swinging gracefully from tree to tree. Air rushed past my face, stealing my breath away, and the world blurred past. I reached out an arm and grabbed another vine, switching vines every couple of seconds.

I swung my legs forward in front of me, and snatched a low-hanging vine with my right hand. I swung so low to the ground I could run momentarily on the trail, zipping past Chives, who had opted to walk on the path, saying not everybody swings on vines, princess. Vinchit was on Chives' shoulder.

"Yeah!" I laughed, exhilarated. "Come _on, _Chives! You gotta try this!" I yelled.

"No, Thanks! I much prefer being human!" He called. I smirked and flipped in the air, pulling my knees up and over my head before grabbing a vine and sliding down to the path like a fireman's pole. I took a few quick steps to catch my balance and fell into step beside Chives.

"Yeah, definitely _not _human, princess." He said, the hint of a grin tugging at his lips. I smiled mischievously. "If I'm not human, what am I?"

"I don't know. probably some sort of previously-unknown legendary Pokémon."

"Yeah? Maybe I'll just transform into my true form someday, right?" He laughed.

"Yeah, and save the world!" He said dramatically, waving his arms. I snorted.

"Pfft, yeah right. I'd probably get someone killed."

We had been walking(Err, swinging, in some cases) for a while now, and had battled with a few random trainers, trying to find Tracktill town. Tracktill town was home to my first gym leader, and I was super phyched about it.

"How much longer till we get there, Chives?" I asked impatiently.

"You ask that every five minutes."

"So?"

He sighed. "Probably another ten minutes."

"Cool." I really, _really _wanted to run and get there faster, but I doubted Chives would appreciate it.

"So, you excited for your gym battle?" He asked.

"Heck yes! First gym badge, here I come!" I said excitedly, and he smiled and continued looking down the path.

"What about you?" I asked. "Aren't you going to challenge the gym?"

He stiffened. "No."

"Huh? Why?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't battle unless I have to." He said curtly.

"Um.. okay.. but don't you train or let your Pokemon out?"

"Yes."

"Alright.." I said, flustered. _Why__ don't you like to battle? _I wanted to ask, but I knew he wouldn't answer me.

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? I just don't want to." He said tightly.

_Why is he so secretive? Why won't he tell me anything?_

I sighed. "Yeah, I get it." I said quietly, looking down at my feet. He looked startled for a minute, but recovered quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I get it!" I snapped. Then I sighed. "Not wanting to talk about something, I mean." I took a deep breath. "My brother. Ryan. He would like you, actually. I almost got him killed, once." My breath hitched. Chives looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," He sort-of muttered.

I nodded. "Yeah, okay."

We walked. And walked. And walked.

_Ugh, _I thought. _Ten minutes my-_

"We're here." Chives announced.

"Really? Where?" All memory of the awkward conversation just a few minutes earlier completely vanished from my mind.

"Up there." He nodded towards a hill. "Just over that."

"Awesome!" I crowed. I took a quick step forward, then stopped and looked at Chives. He laughed.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up."

I grinned, then turned and took off towards the hill, running full speed. And trust me, I can run pretty dang fast. A few minutes later I was at the peak, and I was able to see a little town. It looked as if it consisted of mostly farms. I could hear Miltank Mooing lowly, and tractors chugging along.

_Well, that explains the name._

But then I spotted it:

The Pokémon Gym.

Yee-haw.

* * *

Chives pov

She ran _fast. _Within seconds she was only a smudge on the hillside. I kept walking, shaking my head at her antics.

_Someone's excited._ I almost felt bad for the gym leader. I doubt they even stood a chance. I heard a rustling sound and stopped, tuning my ears. I heard it again. I pivoted quickly on my heel just in time to dodge a flying needle.

_That was pin missile! _I thought with alarm. I saw a flash of blonde before three or so more needles came flying out from the bushes.

"Ah!" I threw myself down, hitting the ground just in time.

I scrambled on my hands and knees towards the bush. Dozens of needles, both purple and white, shot over my head as I army-crawled across the grass.

I lurched towards the bush, one of the spikes catching my shoulder slightly. I winced, but leaped onto my attacker anyways, body slamming him to the ground(A little trick I learned from Andy) He fell back with a surprised yelp as I landed on top of him. Beedrill flanked me on either side, but I ducked as they both tried to hit me with a poison jab at the same time, very conveniently knocking each other out.

I turned my attention down to the guy beneath me. Blond hair tipped with black, cut to about his ears, and piercing grey eyes. His lips curved into a smile.

"Hey there, big shot."

I knew this guy! I thought back. He had been ranked pretty high up in Team Vortex, some sort of commander. I had been higher up the chain then him, and he'd always hated me for it. He had known my brother, I think. But he was a commander. plus, Vortex members were like Rattata. When you see one, there are about a thousand more.

So where were his grunts?

"Axe," I spat. Nobody knew his real name.

"Oh, so you _do _remember me!" He grinned. "I hear from Zack you've got a partner, traitor. And a pretty one, at that." I gritted my teeth and ignored him.

"Where are the others?"

"Others?" He feigned surprise. "Whatever do you mean? I was just checking on Zack's kid brother." He said innocently.

"Shut up," I said, disgusted. "You know just as well as I do that you're never alone, you little Trubbish. So where's everyone else? Who are you attacking this time?" I growled. He smiled up at me, but not in a friendly way like Andy did, more like he knew something I didn't.

"Like I said, Zack told me you had a traveling companion. We've been meaning to raid Tracktill town for a while, anyways."

My eyes widened. _Andy's at Tracktill town _was my only thought. Had she ever made it to the Gym? Had she even made it into town?

Axe laughed. "Oh, so she _is _there. I can see it all over your face. Worried?" He taunted.

I wanted to strangle him, but I didn't have time. "You be grateful that I don't have time to deal with you, or I would." I snarled, then let him go and stood, making my way back through the bushes. Before I could bolt, however, Axe spoke up behind me.

"You won't make it, you know." He said smugly. "Why do you think I stayed here? To say Hi? You were distracted too long. She'll be gone."

I turned. Axe was standing only feet away, arms crossed, grinning like a maniac, like he thought that was the funniest thing in the world.

"Oh, see, that's where your wrong. Andy can hold her own," I said amusedly. It was true. She'd take at least half of them down with her before they got her.

Then I spun and ran as fast as I could up towards the hill.

_True or not, there's no way she can beat all of them._

* * *

Andy's pov

I walked into Tracktill town. It smelled like hay and Ponyta, but I kind of liked it. It was relatively quiet, with the occasional grunt from a Pokémon and a couple of Tractors. Old-looking wood houses dotted the grassy area, with a few stores and a Pokémon center lining the path.

I made my way into the Pokémon center. I figured that if I got my Pokemon healed right before the battle, we'd have a better chance at winning. I speed-walked up to the counter.

"Hello," Nurse Joy asked. "How may I help you?"

"Uh, Hi." I said. "Just here for a quick rest and checkup for my Pokémon." I picked up Vinchit off my shoulder and placed him on the counter. Then I unclipped my Pokeballs from my belt. Riolu, and Lilly. Three Pokémon.

"Oh, yes! Please come back in about an hour, okay?" I almost groaned. An hour? It would be forever until I could battle the Gym leader! I smiled and thanked her anyways.

I sighed and made my way to the poke mart section. _M__ight as well.. _

"Hello, Ma'am. How can I help you?" The man at the counter asked politely.

"Oh, can I have six potions and a pack of pokeballs?"

He nodded and rummaged around under the desk for a minute before coming up with a bag of potions and pokeballs. "That'll be 1400 poke dollars, please."

I rummaged around in my bag. Arceus, I'm so unorganized! Finally I found my pouch. I handed over the money and stuffed my purchases into my bag.

"Thank you and please come again."

"Uh, thanks.." I peered at his nametag, "Bob." I turned and walked out. _While I'm waiting, it won't hurt to check out the gym._

~oOo~

"Wow," I said a few minutes later. It was a big, sweeping building with stained glass windows. Kind of like a church, minus the hay all over the place. I pushed open the huge double doors, which creaked like they were trying to escape from the hinges.

"Oh." It was like a farm, almost. The arena was grass, with haybales. A few of those giant wheels that nobody ever knows what they do were scattered around.

_No rocks, _I thought sadly. The spectators seats were rough leather, and as long as you didn't mind the little Torchics running around, It was fine.

"Why, hello there." Said a cheery voice from behind me. They spoke like a cowboy, kind of like "Whyy hee-low, there."

I turned. A tall, thin girl with braided back brown hair and a cowgirl hat stood behind me. She was tan, and a little sunburned, with freckles and a kind smile. She wore jeans and a brown t-shirt, along with boots and brown working gloves. Her face, shirt, and pretty much everywhere was smudged with dirt.

"Um, hi."

"Can I help you, little missy?"

"Oh! Yes. I'm looking for the gym leader!" I said excitedly.

The girl grinned a mile wide and spread out her arms. "Shoot! Well, you're in luck. My name is Belle. I'm Tracktill town's very own Gym leader!"

I blinked. Then I blinked again. Then I beamed and started bouncing around like a baby Mudkip.

"Oh, yay! Let's have a battle!" She looked first at me, then my belt, then gave me a confused little smile.

"Um, little miss, seems you don't have any Pokémon to battle with." I fell over anime style. When I picked myself up and dusted myself off, I laughed.

"Oh, right! My Pokémon are in the Pokémon center! Whoops."

"Oh, thas' no big deal. We'll battle later, once you get them critters out of the pokemon center."

"Great! I can't wait-" I paused mid sentence. I couldn't hear anything. In a quiet town like this, you would think you normally wouldn't. But being accustomed to listening for anything off, like, say, an out of place pidgey scream to tell me a big Pokémon was coming or finding water, you tend to notice little things.

The Miltank had stopped mooing, and I couldn't hear the tractors or Ponyta. I looked around nervously.

"What's wrong, missy?" Belle asked. I shushed her.

"Listen," I whispered. "Do you hear that?"

She looked at me like I had lost my marbles. "No..?"

"Exactly. Where are all the noises?"

She looked surprised, then listened harder. "You got good ears, missy," She said. "Whadda you suppose made the animals stop?"

A sudden scream pierced the air:

"Help! They're taking the Pokémon!"

Then, chaos. The doors to the gym burst open and streams of men and women poured in, wearing the purple V's that I knew was team vortex. Some were slightly burned from the Ponyta and Torchic, but otherwise were all fine, and very eager to start a fight.

"Hey!" I protested. But there were so many of them, and they pressed Belle and I into a circle. We stood back to back.

"I don't have any Pokémon," I whispered over my shoulder to Belle. "I can only hold off so many of them. Can you slip away and get the Gym's pokemon while I distract them?"

"Heck no!" She whispered urgently. "There's too many of them!"

"We don't have a choice. Just go when you get the chance!" I cleared my throat and looked at the surrounding Vortex members. It was mostly people, with a few pokemon here and there. I assumed that the other Pokémon were still out terrorizing the town.

"What in Arceus's name do you think your doing?" I snapped at them angrily. One or two of them snickered, and I heard a catcall or four.

"Oh, grow up! Who's the leader then, huh? Too scared to show your face?" One of them, a skinny boy with brown hair who I guessed was the leader, stepped forward.

"In the absence of our commander, I am in charge. He is attending other matters."

"What, like kicking Lillypup?" I said sarcastically.

The leader-guy glared at me, and I noticed that he had on a tye-die shirt on under the uniform. "You do not speak about our great commander like that, wench! He is diverting the attention of a traitor!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Wench? Why don't you come over here and call me that again, you-" But then my brain processed the other half of the sentence.

"Traitor?" I gasped. "You don't mean Chives?" _Divert his attention? Not defeat him? What are they planning?_

Tye-die's eyes widened a little in recognition. "So you're the girl traveling with the traitor!" He gasped. He looked me up and down and frowned. "But you're so small. You would break so easily. I was expecting someone tougher, from Zack's account.."

"What?! I am not- how dare you, you judgemental little-!"

He waved me off. "No matter. We have been sent to retrieve you." He said dismissively. He nodded to his goons.

One of them advanced towards me, while the others watched and laughed.

_Element of surprise, _I thought. _These idiots don't know I can fight._

"Get ready," I whispered to Belle. "Soon as this guy goes down, this place is gonna explode. Run as soon as you see an opening." She started to protest, but I cut her off. "Look, we're _both _going to get slammed, even if you do have Pokémon, if you don't get help!" She nodded grudgingly and turned to face the three or so heading towards her.

I surveyed my current competition. Scrawny, no muscle. I almost felt insulted. How weak did they think I was? He smirked, obviously way too confident for his own good. He was feet away and I tensed, ready to fly into action.

"Why don't you just come quietly, girlie? Save yourself some pain." He drawled. I almost laughed.

"What? I cant hear you over all the stupid seeping out of your rear end." I sneered. The other guys jeered.

The guy fumed, his face going an interesting shade of red, and ran right at me. Like a matador, I moved at the last second and as he barreled past me I grabbed his collar and the back of his shirt, grunting as I used his momentum to swing a full circle and hurl him through the air. He flew a good ten, fifteen feet, shrieking like a girl the whole time, before hitting the wall and dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The room was silent. I rolled my shoulder. "What do you weigh, forty pounds? You should work out more."

I was right: the room exploded. They all went after me at once, and I hoped Belle had fled to get help. But right now, I had my own problems to deal with.

I ducked and tripped one guy rushing me, who in turn slammed into another, going down like bowling pins. I punched one or two of them in the jaw, and kneed a few of the guys. I spun and connected with some poor man's head using a vicious roundhouse kick, and threw a few more into the wall.

It continued like this for a minute or so, but I was getting tired. The grunts already on the ground were forgotten by their comrades, and were pretty much trampled, but they managed to trip or, at the very least, slow some of them down.

I grunted and punched someone straight in the face. A crunching sound confirmed my suspicion: I had broken his nose. He howled and fell back, clutching his face, trying to get away from me. I had managed to take out at least fourteen of them, but they just kept coming.

_If this goes on much longer..._

I didn't want to think about it. Why were they after me, anyway? Isn't that what he had said? _"We have been sent to retrieve you." _Why me? Chives? Or because I had knocked out Zack with a rock?

One of them got a lucky shot from behind and his fist smashed into my temple. I saw stars, and the world spun.

"Ow.." I muttered. That brief split second of hesitation was to be my downfall. I stumbled, and someone who still remembered kindergarden stuck out a foot and tripped me. I fell on my butt, scrambling to pick myself back up, but it was too late. I was down, and these sharks smelled blood. They leapt at me.

I fought as hard as I could, biting and scratching and kicking, but it was over in moments despite my efforts. It took three of them to hold me, but they had me by the arms. They wrenched my hands behind my back, tying my wrists together with some kind of rope.

"Ow! Hey, buzz off!" They couldn't gag me, whenever they got close to my mouth I bit and spat. They forced me down into a spectator's chair at the back of the room, farthest from the door, holding my shoulders to make sure I sat.

They ignored me. "Now we just have to wait for our commander, then we can leave."

I realized that the guy whose nose I had broken was the leader, and his voice was all weird.

_Point for me, _I thought halfheartedly.

"What do you guys want, anyway?" I tried. Nothing.

"Hellooo-oo?" I called. No response.

"If one of you don't answer me _right now, _I'll scream!"

"It wouldn't matter," The leader said stuffily, dabbing at his nose with a Kleenex. "Scream all you want, but everybody at this town has been secured, and your precious Chives wouldn't dare try anything while we have you."

_My precious Chives? What?!_

"Maybe not, but it'll annoy the crap out of you. I can scream for a _looong_ time." I said brightly.

The guy sighed irritably. "I don't know, kid! We're following orders from our commander!"

"Oh." So who was this 'commander' guy?

The doors were shut, the room crowded with Vortex's people. The wounded -ha!- were at one corner, bewildered as they came to, wondering how in the world they got the stuffing kicked out of them by a little girl. _Yeah, right. _I snorted.

But if Chives really did try to come, he'd be mobbed, outnumbered two hundred to one. No. He was too smart for that, wasn't he? Much safer to call the police or something. _Anyway,_ I thought, _why would he come for me?_

The radio on Tye-die's hip crackled. He raised it to his mouth. "Yes?"

"Sir," The voice said wildly. "He's running through town, attacking everyone who tries to stop him! He's heading towards the Gym!"

_Oh, no._

"Rodger. Let him come."

"But, sir-!" The voice protested.

"I said let him come!"

"Y-yes, sir." The radio shut off. Tye-die turned to face me, smiling darkly. Suddenly, with his twisted nose and blood on his face, he looked almost scary.

"Well, well. Looks like we have company, hmm?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Chives will kick your butt, you cocky little Grimer!" I yelled. Probably not a smart thing to say in my situation, but hey, he was being a jerk.

He looked madder then a Beedrill. He opened his mouth to speak, but there was a loud bang on the doors. My heart stopped. _No, no, turn around, go away.._

"Hey! Open the door _right n__ow. _Where is she, you creeps?!"

Tye-die smiled and turned to face the doors. "Let him in," He called to the grunts closest to the entrance. The doors creaked open. Chives stood in the doorway, red-faced and angry. He was bleeding from one shoulder. Worry lines creased his forehead, and he looked around frantically until he saw me.

"Andy!"

"Chives, no! Get away!"

"Cover her mouth, somebody, before Axe gets here!" Tye-die hissed sharply before turning to face Chives again.

I felt fabric in my mouth and I jerked, biting down, and I tasted warm blood. Whoever it was cursed angrily, but tied the thing around my mouth anyway. I bucked, but whoever was holding me kept a firm grip on my shoulders.

"Andy!" Chives shouted again. He turned his attention to Tye-die. "You let her go!" He yelled angrily, and I blinked. This wasn't like Chives at all.

"No can do, I'm afraid." Tye-die tried to look menacing, but it just wasn't working with his obviously broken nose. I think Chives noticed, too, because he looked at him, then me, then the injured grunts in the corner, before looking back at Tye-die.

"Have a little trouble catching her?" Chives said sarcastically.

Tye-die bristled, but otherwise didn't respond. "You are in no position to be making jokes, you insolent child."

_Child? _I thought. _He's only, like, two years older then Chives! Superiority complex much?_

"I swear to Arceus, if you don't let her go _now _I'll-"

Somebody behind me dug their fingers into my shoulder, and I winced. Chives noticed and stopped mid-threat.

"You'll what?" Tye-die gloated. I wanted to kick him _there, _but he was too far away.

Chives looked frustrated. He didn't come any closer, but from the looks of it he really wished he could. Just then, another person stepped through the doorway behind him. Chives stiffened without looking at the new stranger. I guessed he was the commander. Kind of skinny, but well-built, and he had on a better quality uniform then the others. He had blond hair tipped black at the ends, but I was pretty sure both colors were fake.

"Chives!" The man jeered. "What did I tell you?" He glanced at the people hurt in the corner, and Tye-die's broken nose. "Looks like you weren't lying when you said she could hold her own," He observed.

I wanted to say, _"Yeah? There's more where that came from, buster. Why don't you untie me and lets have a go?" _But I couldn't.

"Axe," Chives warned. "Let her go. This is cowardly. Speaking of cowards, did Zack put you up to this?"

Axe studied his fingernails. "Maybe. But it doesn't matter now." He strode past Chives, who tensed but didn't attack.

_Because I'm in trouble, _I thought with disgust. _Chives is in danger because of me!_

Axe stepped up to the first row of chairs, right in front of me. He put his face close to mine. Way too close. I could smell his breath, and it smelled like he hadn't brushed in a few decades or so. I gagged. He held my chin and moved my face forcibly from side to side, examining me. I glared.

"Hmm." He mused. "Zack wasn't exaggerating when he said you were fine. Love the hair, sweetheart." I growled at him.

_Just turn around, turn around, I dare you!_

"Leave her alone! It's me you're after, isn't it?" Chives said. He looked a little defeated, but was defiant nonetheless. And then Axe did something he would regret for a couple of hours. He turned around.

"Finally come to your senses, hot shot? Drop your pokeball, come quietly, and no harm will come to-"

I swung my right foot up as hard as I could. Did I mention my combat boots were steel-tipped?

_SMACK._

Axe screeched a little girl's high pitched squeak and fell to his knees, holding himself. I kicked out, my boot connecting solidly with his back, sending him sprawling face first off the ledge.

The people holding me were so surprised that they did exactly what I was expecting them to:

They loosened their grip on my shoulders.

**Cliffie! Sorry it took so long! **

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	11. My darkest secret

**Hello amazing people! I went to bed at 12:30 last night after checking my stats. I woke up at 8:55 and checked my stats. they had shot up by over a hundred! yay, yay, yay! uh, happy three.. or, two now.. day labor day weekend!**

_previously.._

_I swung my right foot up as hard as I could. Did I mention my combat boots were steel-tipped?_

_SMACK._

_Axe screeched a little girl's high pitched squeak and fell to his knees, holding himself. I kicked out, my boot connecting solidly with his back, sending him sprawling face first off the ledge._

_The people holding me were so surprised that they did exactly what I was expecting them to:_

_They loosened their grip on my shoulders._

* * *

I jerked up and away from the chair, jumping off the ledge, landing on Axe. My hands were still tied behind my back, and my gag was still in, but I ran straight for Chives.

"Chives!" I shouted, or tried to, but with the gag it sounded more like, "Mmmfs!"

He leapt towards me, pulling me towards him before the grunts could react, and touched my face, my hair.

"Mmm-nn!" I said urgently. He untied my gag, and it dropped to the floor.

"Oh my Arceus- are you okay?" He whispered quickly.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said throwing a glance at the still-stunned people who had been holding me. I saw blood on one of them's hand. "It was all they could do to keep me in that stupid chair," I muttered. "But why-"

It was then that the Grunts finally reacted. A bit slow, if you ask me, but that's just my opinion. Choruses of "Hey!" and "Our commander!" sounded, along with a few confused "What happened?"

They started to advance. Chives backed up and put me behind him, but it wasn't much good since we were pretty much surrounded.

Then the gym exploded. The doors burst open, and streams of Pokemon and Gym employees poured in, shouting commands and throwing attacks. The very last one to come in was Belle, flanked by a Rapidash, a couple of Miltank, and a Blaziken.

"Belle!" I shouted. "Perfect timing!" The Gym's Pokemon and the grunts Pokemon clashed, and the grunts proved they were still stronger than they looked, even with less Pokemon. Amid the chaos, I knelt down and fumbled with my boot. With my wrists tied it was harder than I'd anticipated, but I finally grasped my Pocket knife and slipped it out of my shoe.

"Yes!" I murmured. I stood and flicked it open, sawing at my ropes. Chives covered me, knocking away anyone who came after us. Finally, they snapped, and I was free to move my arms around. I rubbed my wrists.

I felt a nudge on my ankle and looked down. Vinchit, flanked by Lilly and Riolu, was standing there, looking totally healthy.

_Has it been an hour already? _I mused. _Gee, time sure does fly when you're fighting for your life._

"Guys! How did you get here? I left you at the Pokemon center."

"Vinchit chit vin-" **Well, you were taking so long-**

"Pole tym pole pole tympole-" **And a bunch of bad people took over the center-**

"Ri lu lu riolu ri." **So**** we came to find you.**

"Great. We need all the help we can get." I looked back towards the raging battle and saw a Gym employee and her Torchic surrounded, outnumbered 3 to 1.

"Vinchit, vine whip! Lilly, use round!"

"Chit!" **Right!**

"Pole!" **On it!**

A horrible nails-on-a-chalkboard noise filled the air, and a couple of the grunts covered their ears as the sound blasted into their pokemon. The Golbat all went down. The actual Grunts themselves were slapped away by vines, and the employee gave us a thumbs up and continued fighting.

I saw a streak of blue-black out of the corner of my eye.

"Riolu, force palm behind you!" I yelled. Riolu turned just in time to see a Murkrow hurtling towards him with a peck attack. I guess he must've picked up a fighting tip or two from me, because he moved slightly to the side just as the surprised bird pokemon flew past and grabbed it with two glowing blue hands, turning a circle and throwing it into a haybale. Hay and dust flew everywhere. Flamethrowers and water guns and ember's were flying everywhere.

Me and Chives did our fair share of fighting, too. We stood back to back, ducking and dodging and decking and kicking. We got a couple of hard punches, but all in all we were winning. There were a lot of Grunts, but now that there were more of us and less of them, they were more annoying then particularly tough.

Eventually they all started to retreat, going for the door and radioing the other grunts to forget about the captives and _go._

Belle and a few others tried to stop them, but there was a loud bang and a burst of smoke, and suddenly nobody could see. I coughed and waved my arm through the smoke, and got a weird sense of deja vu. I had done the exact same thing when I practically set the kitchen on fire at the pokemon center that one time.

When the smoke finally cleared, there was no Grunt, commander, or Vortex Pokemon to be seen. Belle stomped her foot in annoyance.

"Gosh _darn _it! They got away!" she complained. Her Pokemon and a few of the employees tried to console her, while the rest just stared in dismay at the damage. Hay and broken wheels lay scattered across the field, burn marks scorching the arena and huge chunks of grass gone, and the lingering smell of smoke remained.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back. For once, I could clearly read the emotions on Chives face. Worry, anger, and a few traces of fear flitted through his eyes.

"Hey. Can we.. go walk or something?" He asked uncertainly.

I smiled tiredly. "Yeah, sure. Just let me tell Belle we're leaving so she doesn't think we got trainer-napped." Chives nodded and stepped back.

I jogged over to where Belle was standing, surveying the damage done to the Gym.

"Belle?" I called. She started and turned around.

"Oh! Little missy! Are you alright? They had you all trussed up."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing a good nights sleep and an ice pack won't fix. Anyway, we're gonna go."

"We?" Belle looked over my shoulder and grinned.

"What?" I turned. Chives was blatantly watching me, hands in his pockets. I turned back to look at Belle, who waggled an eyebrow at me suggestively. "He's just worried about me, thats all." I said.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Belle teased.

"I'm serious!" I protested. "He, uh, knows the guy who's after me." I doubted Chives would appreciate me telling her that he was an x-vortex member and brother of an pokemon-stealing idiot. Then I realized something. "Actually," I sad slowly, "Thats _why_ they're after me. To jab at Chives."

The girly grin vanished from Belle's face.

"Oh." She said awkwardly. "So.. that wasn't just a random attack?"

"Fraid not," I said.

"Well then. You need a bodyguard or somethin'?"

I recalled how angry Chives had been when he first barged into the Gym.

"Ah, no, I don't think so." I concluded.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right. You originally came here for a pokemon battle, right?" I nodded.

"Tell you what. Itt'l be a minute before we get this place fixed up. How 'bout you come in tomorrow?"

"Really?"

"Shoot, yeah. Way you fought? Itt'l be fun."

"Great! see you then. I hope you're prepared to lose."

"Whatever you say, little miss," She said, amused. "Well, you best be on your way. Little mister over there is waiting. Be careful, now, don' want those goons grabbing you two."

"Yeah. Thanks again!" I turned and trotted back towards Chives. Vinchit ran up to me, bounding up my leg and climbing my shirt to get onto my shoulder. "Good job, guys. you deserve a good rest." I recalled Riolu and Lilly, clipping their pokeballs to my belt.

"Okay," I said to Chives. "All set. Do you want to go after them, or just walk?"

He grimaced. "I know from experience that Vortex members always have a decent escape plan. Trust me when I say they're already gone." We headed for the door. We(Well, I) waved one last time at the Gym employees before leaving.

"Besides," Chives continued. "Given how badly outnumbered we just were, I can safely say that would _not_ be smart." He reasoned. We passed a lonley- looking Miltank.

"Yeah, about that." I said. "Now that we're on the topic of 'not smart' why didn't you get help instead of coming alone? Wouldn't it have been smarter to bring a few officer Jennys or something? You were outnumbered, like, two hundred to one."

It was a legitimate question. What if Belle hadn't gotten there when she did? What if Axe hadn't gotten close enough for me to.. ah.. disable him? What if it had just been him vs. Team Vortex?

"Because I worked with him," Chives muttered. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Worked with who?" I asked.

"Axe."

"So you know him?"

He sighed. "Not very well. Mostly just by reputation. He didn't like me much, because I was higher ranked."

I thought about this. "Well, he was a commander, so what were you?"

"I was a.." Chives thought for a moment. "I was more of a special forces. They sent us for big missions and as a backup if a commander screwed something up."

"Okay."

"Anyway, Axe is a really bad guy. And I knew he wanted me, doing the dirty work for my brother. There's no telling what would've happened to you if I had showed up with cops."

_He was willing to risk himself.. for me?_

"Wait, I said slowly. "So you're saying that if Belle hadn't come.." I trailed off. Chives finally met my eyes.

"Then I probably would've given myself up." He finished softly.

"But.. but.." I said in a small voice. "Why?"

"Because I care-" He cut himself off. "Because you're my friend."

"Oh," I said quietly. "I see."

_It's not like I wanted him to say something else.._

Right?

_Wrong, _A little voice in my head said.

_Oh, shut up._

"Thanks," I finally said.

"For?"

"For worrying about me. For saving me. Just for staying with me, actually."

"You're welcome, I suppose," He said.

"You suppose?"

"You don't really have to thank me. I would have done those things anyway. And I'm surprised you still stay with _me,_ to be honest. It constantly puts you in danger." He said, shaking his head as if he were confused.

"Yeah, so?" I never thought about it that way. I always thought I was lucky he stayed with me. I was loud, annoying, I set things on fire trying to cook, and he almost got caught because of me. It never even occurred to me that he might think I wouldn't travel with him because he was a trouble magnet.

"So.. why don't you care? Why does the idea of being the target of the whole of Team Vortex not scare you off? If you left me they would most likely leave you alone."

"First off, no, thats not true, I've embarassed them too much now for them to just ignore me. Two.. I don't know. It's not _your _fault Vortex holds a grudge, or that you have a donkey for a brother. If I want to travel with you, then they're just going to have to deal with it," I said. Chives smiled faintly.

"I always thought it was strange that you still wanted to travel with me." I kicked a pebble, and it skittered down the road.

"Why?" Chives asked. He sounded genuinley puzzled.

"You know. I can't cook. I'm irritating and loud. I'm odd, everybody always said so. Unnatural. Apparently, they were right when they said I was bad luck."

"You are _not_ bad-"

"How many times did they bother you, before you met me?" I interrupted.

"That doesn't matter. They would have attacked anybody I traveled with. It's not you. Who told you you were bad luck?" He said, a little crossly. But I didn't think he was mad at me.

"My whole town, except for most of the Pokemon, and my mom and dad and brother."

"The people in your town told you you were unnatural and brought bad luck?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Normal girls like dresses and skirts and the color pink. Normal people don't have gold eyes, or silver hair. Normal people can't talk to Pokemon. Normal people don't start fires from thin air-" I stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"No, what?"

"Remember when I said I almost killed my brother?"

"Yeah."

"I.." I hesitated. would he believe me? If he did, would he still like me, or call me a freak like everybody else?

_What am I saying? This is Chives. He won't hate me._

I took a deep breath. "About nine years ago, when I was six, and Ryan was two, something happened.."

_I was playing blocks with Ryan. He giggled and clapped his hands when I stacked another red block on the tower. "Boo! Boo! Boo, Awee!"_

_"It's Andy, not Awee." I picked up a blue block and put it on top of the red one. Ryan laughed hysterically like it was the funnest thing in the world to stack blocks._

_Mom and dad were out on an.. Erren? Arron? I think mama said errand. She said to watch Ryan and keep him having fun. So I played with him._

_"Grah, grah!" Ryan sang happily._

_"Why don't you do it, Ryan?" I put a green block in front of him. He looked at me funny, like 'Thats not where the stack is.'_

_"Go ahead." I was bored of this game, and I was hungry. _

_"Grah, Awee! Grah!"_

_"No, Ryan, you do it." I said, annoyed. Ryan didn't get it. He picked up the block and threw it at me. It hit my shoulder and fell into my lap._

_"Grah!"_

_"No!" I said. "No more stupid blocks! I don't wanna!" I tossed the block on the ground._

_Ryan stared at me. "Grah? Awee?"_

_"I said no! And my name is Andy, not Awee!"_

_Ryan sniffled. His face scrunched up._

_"Oh, no. Ryan, No-"_

_"WHAAAAAA!" Ryan screamed. He picked up the block and threw it, only this time it hit me in the face. "Awee bad! Awee bad!" __He screeched._

_"No, Ryan, look-" I put the green block on the stack. "Please stop crying. Grah, see, Awee did grah!"_

_It didn't matter. Ryan wailed and smacked the tower of blocks, sending blocks everywhere. A few rained down on me._

_"Ow! Stop it, Ryan!" I cried._

_"Awee bad! Awee bad! Awee bad!" Ryan blubbered at the top of his lungs._

_"Shut up! Shut up!" I covered my ears. He screamed and cried like a dying thing._

_"Awee bad! Awee bad!"_

_"Shut UP!" I yelled. I felt a warmth in my stomach, a hot, searing red that traveled up my throat and into my mouth._

_"Awee bad, bad, bad, bad-!"_

_"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" I yelled. Red, glowing bits of fire shot out of my mouth, hitting Ryan and the walls and the carpet and suddenly it was hot, hot, hot and Ryan wasn't moving and ow, ow, that burns, and it was red and yellow and orange._

_Flames danced and spread. They roared across the carpet and the drapes and the couch and ate everything, hungry flames, burned everything and I couldn't breath or see and it hurt. Wood beams crashed around me and I couldnt see Ryan anymore._

_I cried and screamed, "Help! Mama! Daddy!" I tried to get up but I was getting dizzy and I coughed and swayed and fell over. I hit the ground. My ears were ringing and spots marred my vision._

_I reached out a hand, but it fell limp to the ground. I heard yelling and loud wee-oo's but it was faint and I was tired so tired. The last thing I saw was a blue and white figure, almost like a pokemon.. I blacked out._

"I woke up a few days later in the hospital. I had third degree burns and had taken in a lot of smoke, but I was okay. Ryan had a few burn marks, and the house was completely destroyed. When I told everybody what happened, they all told my parents that I was a witch and that they should have gotten rid of me at birth." I finished.

We had long since stopped walking and were lying in the grass. Vinchit had wandered off to play with a Torchic. Chives was quiet.

I laughed harshly. "I'm not sure why they didn't."

Chives said nothing.

_He hates me now. He's going to call me names and leave and I'm never going to see him again._

"Chives?"

He looked at me.

"Yeah, Andy?"

He didnt leave. I studied his face. It didnt _look _like he was afraid of me.

"You called me Andy." I said dumbly.

"You told me not to call you Andrea." He said, confused.

"You didn't call me a freak, or a mistake, or a witch. You didn't run away."

"Why would I do that?"

"Why- why- I don't know. Why wouldn't you? Everybody else does. You didn't say anything."

"I don't always say something. I was thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"Why they called you a witch. Why they think you're bad luck."

I sat up. "Why they- I burned the house down! I shot fire!"

"So? And you talk to Pokemon, and you can't cook, and you have silver hair and gold eyes, and you're loud, and you don't like dresses and skirts or pink. I don't see a problem."

My eyes watered. He didn't care. He honestly didn't care.

"You can make medicine, and swing from vines, and catch fish with your bare hands, and smell water, and you're always happy."

I sniffled.

"All things considered, Andy, you are a good person. You didn't set the fire on purpose. You would never hurt anybody except for idiots who misuse pokemon."

I felt wetness on my cheeks. I hiccuped.

"And anybody who says otherwise will have to deal with me."

I laughed and sobbed at the same time, a loud, wet noise that caught Chives' attention. He sat up and held out his arms. I threw my arms around him and cried into his chest.

"Hey, hey," He soothed, petting my hair.

I hiccuped and sniffled. "You s-still lu-like m-me. N-nobod-dy s-still l-likes me af-ter I t-tell them th-that." I whispered.

"Of course I do," He said. "Of course I do."

I cried and sobbed and shook, but Chives only petted my hair, and eventually I calmed down. He didn't let go of me, though. And I was really glad he didn't.

* * *

**sorry its so short.. did i do the fire scene justice? I tried to write it like i write poetry, but im not sure how good it is. theres a little chives/andy for you.. **

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	12. Joseph

**I'm back! I couldn't post yesterday, as we went horseback riding. afterwards we went to a reasturant called cheddars, where my vegetarian self found it very hard to order. every single dish had meat! even the vegetable plate, which had soup, had bacon in the soup! it was ridiculous. anyway, enough with my problems. onto the story!**

_Chives pov_

Andy had been sitting in the same place she had told me her story for hours, staring at something that I couldn't see. Her eyes were rimmed with red, the only evidence at all that she had been crying. Crying! I never thought Andy was even capable of crying. It must have really messed her up, what happened.

The thought sent fresh anger shooting through me. I couldn't believe that anybody would shun her, hate her, because of something like that. So what she shot fire out of her mouth? She could talk to pokemon. So why was fire considered witchcraft? All her life she had been ignored or jeered at or even attacked, from what she told me after she had finally calmed down.

~oOo~

_"What?" _I asked, shocked.

"Just some guys." Andy said distantly. "No big deal. Followed me home a couple times. Why do you think I'm such a good fighter?"

There was no way. No way anybody would follow her and hurt her for no reason. No way they would do that because of rumors. Not Andy. There was nothing wrong with her! Andy was a good person. _If she ever takes me to her town.._

"Did anybody do anything about it?"

"No. Well, my parents, and sometimes my little brother, but it never really did any good."

"Oh." I managed. "Did they ever..?"

"No," She said. "Nothing like that."

"Oh. Good." I said.

~oOo~

_Just some guys, _I thought angrily. _Guys that are going to be very surprised when I show up and-_

"Chives?"

I snapped out of it and looked over. Andy was looking at me uncertainly. "Yeah?"

"Am I a good pokemon trainer?"

The question caught me by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I mean.." She sighed. "I don't know what I mean. It's just that.. when I finish my pokemon journey, I- I'll have to go back home. Back home to.." She trailed off. "But if I'm a good trainer, I can keep traveling, right? I wouldn't have to go home?"

"What do you want to do?" I asked. "What do you think?"

"I think... I think I want to travel. Maybe not forever, but as long as I can. I don't want to go home. I don't belong there."

"Do you belong here? Traveling?" She probably did. She was a great trainer, after all.

"Yeah. I think so. I love my pokemon. And you make me feel.." She paused, searching for words. "You make me feel.. happy. Like nothing matters, and everythings going to be fine." She said, almost wistfully. Then she suddenly seemed to realize what she had said. She blushed crimson and looked away.

"Uh, I- I meant.. Oh, who am I kidding? I meant what I said." She said, frustrated.

I was more than a little uncomfortable. What did that mean? I 'made her happy.' Did she really feel happy with me? Me, who never tells her whats wrong and gets her kidnapped?

"Oh.. uh, okay." I said lamely. I kicked my self mentally. _Really? 'Okay'? Ugh, I'm so stupid!_

"Yeah. Okay. So.. what do we do now? I mean, with team vortex and all. And my battle with Belle is tomorrow." She said quickly, and I silently thanked arceus she had changed the subject.

"Hmm. Yeah. I don't think we should split up," I said. "Or we could repeat today."

"Oh, yes, I would very much like not being kidnapped again." She said. "And.. hey, sorry I almost got you caught."

"What?"

"It's kind of my fault you had to come to those Vortex idiots," She said. "And I don't care how many there were or how outnumbered I was, it was still my fault. I saw.. that Axe guy. He really doesn't like you. When he came into the gym.. I was really scared, Chives. He walked right past you, and you were nervous too, I could tell."

_This again? It's really not your fault.. _I opened my mouth, but she cut me off.

"No. Don't deny it. You wanted to take him out.. you weren't sure what he was going to do. I saw you. But you didn't. You could have, but you didn't, because I was tied up in a chair with no way of defending myself."

"Andy, I can defend myself-" I protested. She shouldn't be worried about _me. _

"But what if he had told you not to?" She demanded. "If you were willing to give yourself to an army of people who hate your guts in order to save me, then what were you willing to do.. or take.. to make sure they didn't hurt me?"

I was silent. She had a point. I had thought about that, too. Truth was, I hadn't really cared what they did to me. As long as Axe didn't hurt Andy, I would've been fine.

"Andy." I said. She looked at me, and she was desperate, trying to convince herself that she was a horrible person, pleading with me to just yell at her or something. "Look, I'm not going to say that you're wrong. I'm not going to say that I wasn't in danger. I was. But it _wasn't _you're fault. Besides, think about it: They did everything on purpose. The whole point was to catch me. So if the plan was to take me back, why would they hurt me?"

"Maybe _they _wouldn't have, but who would? I doubt they did all that so that you could have tea and cookies with your brother!"

"Look, It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was!"

"No, it wasn't!"

We glared at each other for a minute. Suddenly Andy burst out laughing, falling back onto the grass. Confused, I looked at her.

"Whats so funny?"

"You- we- look at us! We're fighting over who's fault it was that we both almost got kidnapped by a bunch of dudes in purple jumpsuits!" She giggled. Then she sobered a little.

"Look, I guess you're right. It wasn't really either of our faults." Vinchit wandered over and mewled something to Andy. Andy nodded.

"Yeah. I won't leave you at the pokemon center anymore. Arceus knows I could've used you guys back at the Gym."

"Why don't we head back? It'll be dark soon." I suggested.

"Yeah. Pokemon center?"

"Do you really want to sleep outside in the open tonight?"

"Point taken. Let's go." She stood, and I followed suit. She seemed to be her normal self again, like she had never told me about the fire or home, or that we argued. Just her normal, confident self. We headed back to Tracktill town.

BADGUYSBADGUYS

"They what?" Zack said calmly. Axe swallowed.

"They may have gotten away," He mumbled. Zack nodded agreeably.

"Yes. How, pray tell, did they get away?"

"Um. It seems my second-in-command forgot to secure the gym leader, who got help. We were outnumbered and outgunned."

"But the girl was captured! They wouldn't have dared attack if you had threatened her!"

"I did! At least, I was. Joseph was literally surrendering. I.. I turned my back on the girl for only a second.." Axe winced at the memory.

They were in Vortex headquarters, sitting by a fireplace in Axe's own room. Axe was fiddling with a ring on his hand anxiously. He did not fail often. He had miscalculated, that was all. The girl had surprised him. It would not happen again. The next time he saw her, he would show her what happens when you defy a commander, and he would make Joseph watch.

Joseph! Axe was supposed to find him and report to the boss, but Zack had asked to see Joseph first. Now he had two things to deal with: Zack _and_ the boss.

"Hm. I was _so _hoping I would be able to talk with Chives- oh, well. This is only a minor setback. Today only proved that he will come if that girl is in danger. What was her name?"

"Er.." Axe leaned over towards the coffee table to look at the target files. "Andrea. Andrea Klee. Originates from Twistvine town. Parents are Daisy and Soital Klee. Says here she has multiple skills, including talking to pokemon, carving, living off the wild, fighting, singing, writing.." He paused, squinted at the page.

"Huh. Says here she was blamed for a fire that burned down her parents' house. 'Suspect, age six, claims to have shot fire from own mouth, burning down house and causing third degree burns. Evidence points towards arson.' Wonder what thats all about."

"It is irrelevant," Zack said. "Just don't underestimate her, or my brother, next time. Take every precaution. Do not fail again."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

**Yeah, I know, nothing really happened. but I wanted to post _something._ ****I might post more later tonight, but i have to work on my digimon fanfic too, so dont be surprised if i dont.**

**REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**All of my stories will be on a temporary 2 month haitus. I'm sorry! I'll start up again some time in late November or early December. THIS IS NOT PERMANENT. I know some authors will say 'temporary' and then you don't hear from them for five years, but this is not that! I am working on an original story called Spirit Walker. I want to try and get at least half of it done before posting it on fictionpress and wattpad. Sorry! I love these stories, but i'm so crunched for time with reading..** **I never thought I would put my stories on haitus, as I hate it when people do, but alas, it is for the sake of writing.**


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